Written by Siddhi Goel and Eshna Benegal
Saroj Khan is a woman of many firsts. She is the first woman to have climbed the ladder from child artist, to background dancer, to celebrated film choreographer. She is the first to have launched her own dance classes on TV called Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan (2008) where she taught her own choreographies and was conferred the nickname, Masterji. She is also the first to ever receive an award for choreography in the country. In fact, the award was constituted because of the immense success of her song Ek Do Teen from Tezaab (1988).
Born as Nirmala Nagpal in undivided India, Khan began her tryst at the movies to support her family. Her difficult personal life with two marriages and bucket loads of public scrutiny never affected the playfulness she brought to the screen. Desi and iconic, two words that were synonymous with Khan’s work. She never emulated the west, but instead looked inward for inspiration.
A flip through successful dance songs from the 90s will yield her name. The most striking feature of her filmography is the variety. Her creativity is astounding. A Saroj Khan song, then, had the power to make or break a heroine's career. The way she would represent them in her dance challenged norms. She made sure that a free, dancing woman on screen looked SO attractive. On screen and off screen, Khan challenged the status quo. In an industry dominated by men, she carved out a space for herself and brought the female film choreographer into the mainstream.
By the 2000s, Khan had become a household name. She gave film dance visibility and acknowledgment. And as for us little girls across the country, she gave us a reason to put on our finery and dance in the living room. It is those songs, the ones that made us move, that we celebrate today, four years after her passing.
Kate Nahi Kat Te (1987)
Movie: Mr. India
Director: Shekhar Kapur
How would you choreograph a duet where your partner is invisible? In the 1987 blockbuster superhero film Mr. India, Sridevi does just that. Kate Nahi Kat Te, sung by Kishore Kumar and Alisha Chanai and composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, is a love song Sridevi sings to Mr. India himself, the Anil Kapoor. His superhuman power? You guessed it, invisibility.
The song is a bible for several passionate love songs, however, not many match up to its raw sex appeal. The song opens with a hairflip, as one does. Anil Kapoor places a small kiss on Sridevi’s neck before vanishing into thin air. Her invisible partner then turns her, swings her, and holds her hand. The lyrics say; lo aaj main kehta hoon (well, let me say it today); Kapoor whispers “I love you,” and Sridevi heaves.
No it's not just the heaving, or her chiffon sari that makes this song sexy, it’s the ‘s’ curves that Khan has put into the choreography. Whether she is lying on hay, on a staircase, in the rain, or simply standing with her arms in the air, there is a constant curve being drawn by the body. We see the shape clearly because of the bright blue sari she is wearing against the dull, brown background.
There is something about the way Saroj Khan approaches these intimate yet fervent love songs. The heaving of the chest, the throwing back of the head, the writhing of the body in desire, all measured, all calculated. Khan opens her plethora of hip sways for this song; bountiful. The rain makes everything sexier; much sexier. And the unpaid actor for this sequence is the wind machine; oomph-y.
Humko Aaj Kal Hai (1990)
Movie: Sailaab
Director: Deepak Balraj Vij
One of the biggest dancing stars of Bollywood is writhing under a fishnet. The people of the village where she is indisposed are concerned. A village healer steps up to save her with a potion. A drop of it and she comes back to life with three deep heaves. Problem was, he had also unleashed her dancing talent.
Humko Aaj Kal Hai from Sailaab (1990) continues to be one of Saroj Khan and Madhuri Dixits finest collaborations. The 8-minute song composed by Bappi Lahiri, written by Javed Akhtar and sung by Anupama Deshpande is a spectacle. The film won one award; the Filmfare for Best Choreography and it went to Saroj Khan.
The song itself is simply crafted. The verses repeat themselves with the same tune on a four-beat cycle; the song’s own metronome. The most ingenious thing Khan does is play with it. She takes the rhythm for a spin through endless rhythmic permutations and combinations.
The song also proves to us that Khan seems to be a bottomless pit of hip thrust variations. She makes the innocent move have dynamism, enviably so. The 1% of oomph left to the dance gods to handle is managed by the aggressive wind machine aimed directly at Dixit’s face. Oomph, that’s the word.
It’s interesting. The song has a lot of close up shots of the dancers' waists; a sight we often see in songs that objectify women. And some might argue Humko Aaj Kal Hai does that too. But there is a sense of assertion here. Khan’s choreography often brings that out. Suhani Singh, a journalist of film dance for India Today said “The way that she represents her [dancer’s] desire through movement and does it without judging the woman. And actually making the audience appreciate the beauty of it — Saroj just cracked it.” A woman unhinged, unreserved, unabashed.
Tamma Tamma (1990)
Movie: Thanedaar
Director: Raj N. Sippy
“When we were doing Tamma Tamma, I had put a condition. I had said I’ll do this song if Sanjay Dutt rehearses,” Khan had said. The song from the film Thanedaar (1990) starred Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit. Khan came to the studio to watch Dutt’s practice. The crew had told her that Dutt hadn't practised at all. She was already fuming. But when he danced that day, she fell off her seat. He had memorised it from beginning to end.
Along with Bappi Lahiri’s voice and composition and Anuradha Paudwal on vocals, Dutt and Dixit created a hook step for the ages. The chorus of Tamma Tamma has both Dixit and Dutt in a shuffle. The step is the kind of thing everyone wants to try as soon as you see it. Had this song come out in 2024, the reels on it would break the app.
The song showcases what songs nowadays would never dare to try; innovation. It features both actors in a sort of robotic, dead-weight, jumping step; one of the many movements in the track that have the potential to look awkward. But Khan wasn’t afraid to experiment. The result is something iconic.
It is genre-bending. This one song encapsulates jazz, whacking, disco, hip hop, the list is endless. And while many can talk about art needing to be represented in its purest form, there is something to say about the mixture of them that audiences gobble up. Khan’s filmography is a testament to that.
The song had a reprise in 2017. The new version is an ode to the old version. Among other things it has retained Bappi Lahiri’s original voice and Khan’s bouncy hook step. That was her power.
Maar Daala (2002)
Movie: Devdas
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Khan’s masterpiece, almost her magnum opus (almost only because the next song surely IS), executed to perfection by her prodigy Madhuri Dixit.
Any heroine worth her salt would need a Saroj. But a Saroj also needed a Madhuri for her genius to shine. In the body of a dancer as skilled and versatile as Madhuri, the nuances and impact of Khan’s choreography hit you like a tsunami.
Chandramukhi says :
“Humpe ye kisne, hara rang daala,
Khushi ne humari humein maar daala”
(Who has splashed this green colour on me?
It is my happiness that has killed me)
Chandramukhi is a courtesan, who has done what films will tell you courtesans should never do :fall in love with the film’s hero. But she did, fully knowing that the man she loves is in love with another woman who in turn is married to someone else. So what do you get? Three people in a love triangle — suffering.
But suffering is not the only emotion at play here, the song is far too interesting to wallow in self pity. Surely, there is sadness, heartbreak, jealousy, but also taunt, pride, sarcasm, sass – a WHOLE lot of it.
In this song, she makes an open declaration — yes, I love you, yes, I am in pain, but today I will own this defeat. And it is in fully owning her love and accepting that it won’t be reciprocated that she rises above Devdas.
Why the song works so well is that the choreography fully supports Chandramukhi’s emotions. The greatest feat of the choreography, which very few can achieve, is that even if the viewer doesn’t actively listen to the lyrics, you can still fully follow what the song is conveying – just by the sheer strength of choreography, movement and the actor’s facial expressions.
Anger, humour, sarcasm, surprise, so many shades pass through the actress’s face. Especially highlighted in this part:
Song : Dola re Dola
Movie : Devdas (2002)
Director : Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Dola Re Dola - Devdas - FULL SONG - FULL HD - 1080p
Two women share a secret, they both love the same man. Spoiler alert : neither can have him.
It is hard to say if a song like this has ever really been shot in recent Hindi cinema history.
Paro (aka Aishwarya Rai) calls Chandramukhi (aka Madhuri Dixit) to her house festivities. Chandramukhi is a courtesan, a fact no one else in the family knows, and Paro knows she has done something her family won’t approve of by inviting her.
But something binds these two women. What is it? The intense love for lead hero Devdas. Unfortunately, he doesn’t reciprocate either of their feelings.
With a rapid, sudden, unpredictable movement of the dancers and the camera, one feels a dramatic build up, suggesting that something bad is about to happen as soon as the song ends (which it does) — making this song simultaneously a fleeting celebration and a clarion for an upcoming tragedy.
There is a large number of background dancers moving throughout the set and frame, the camera is following the movement of the dancers, an absolutely busy frame with so much visual stimulus and yet the two lead actresses and the story within the song still shines through.
One of my favourite things about this song is actually its hook step — it's so simple, minimal and goes with the groove of the melody perfectly — languid, but still slightly crunchy.
This style of choreography, of a large group of dancers spread over a wide set with quick changes in group formations was most associated with B.Sohanlal and B.Hiralal, 2 brothers who created some of the most iconic hindi dance numbers in 1950s and 60s. Saroj assisted and worked with them for years, honing this style but also giving it her own signature.
Also, variety of movement anyone? Khan pulls off the most unique, new, mind boggling combinations of eyes, hands, facial expressions; twisting them into such creative steps.
To be honest it doesn’t do justice to call this style of dancing ‘semi classical,’ a word very often associated with her work. It is different, it's just Saroj and her style, difficult to be described by any other label than her own name.
If this article made you curious enough to explore Khan’s filmography, congratulations! You are going to find a path of immense joy. You may find yourself sitting and dancing alongside songs, you may notice a huge smile on your face , and your eyes will twinkle because the sweet beauty of it all will absorb you fully. Be careful lest you get used to temporarily escaping into the Saroj-verse!
Written by Siddhi Goel and Eshna Benegal
Siddhi Goel is a Kathak dancer-researcher, and has trained in Kathak for over 15 years. She has been studying Kathak in Bombay cinema since the last 3 years, and is the founder of Allthingskathak, a research driven dance blog.
Eshna Benegal is an Odissi and Kathak dancer based out of Bangalore. She is also the founder of The Deep Cut, a newsletter that analyses and celebrates South Asian film dance. In the time she makes money, she words as a video editor.
Sources:
“Kate Nahi Kat Te” footage courtesy - YouTube/T-Series
“Humko Aaj Kal Hai” footage courtesy - YouTube/Rare Gems
“Tamma Tamma Loge” footage courtesy - YouTube/Salaru Mithuro Studio
“Maar Dala” footage courtesy - YouTube/Music Video
“Dola re Dola” footage coutresy - YouTube/ShawaN Al MahmuD