National Award winning choreographer Saroj Khan passed away in Mumbai on Friday.
In a career spanning forty years, she choreographed nearly 2000 songs. Her most successful collaborations were with actors Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit.
Actress Priyamani too worked with the legendary dancer. She took to her social media pages and shared a photo of hers with Saroj Khan.
Talking about her death as a huge loss to the industry, she wrote, “Was really fortunate to have worked with this legend for an advert long back!!! Such a gentle soul!!! Huge huge loss for the industry!💔💔 #RIPSarojKhan masterji! You will be terribly missed!” (sic.)
Earlier, in one of her interviews, Saroj Khan had complimented Priyamani. Saroj mentioned that Priya reminded her of Sridevi of her early days.
Born as Nirmala Nagpal, Saroj Khan began her career by playing the young Shyama onscreen in Nazarana. She soon became a background dancer under the mentorship of dance director B. Sohanlal. After assisting as a dance choreographer for a few years, her first independent work came in Geeta Mera Naam (1974). Saroj got noticed after she choreographed for Sridevi in Mr. India’s song “Hawa Hawai” (1987).