Saroj Khan (Choreographer) Age, Death, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

 Some Lesser Known Facts About Saroj Khan

• Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal, popularly known as Saroj Khan, was one of the well-known choreographers of the Hindi cinema.

• In a career spanning over forty years, Khan had choreographed more than 2000 songs.

• She was born in a well-to-do family in Mumbai. However, her family moved to India from Pakistan post the India-Pakistan partition and lost all their wealth.

• Her family was based in Pakistan from where her parents moved to India after Indian-Pakistan partition.

• While in childhood, Saroj started dancing after looking at her shadow on the floor. When her mother noticed her dancing after her shadow, she took her to a doctor, thinking Saroj was mentally ill. However, the doctor told her mother that that she was all fine and all she wanted was to dance so she should let her do so. He even asked her mother to put Saroj in the film industry.

• At the age of three, Saroj appeared as a child artist in the film, “Nazarana.”

• She, then, worked as a background dancer in the song, ‘Aiye Meheraban’ from the film, “Howrah Bridge.”
  

  Saroj Khan as a background dancer

• Thereafter, she started learning dance from the film choreographer, B. Sohanlal.

• While learning dance from Sohanlal, Saroj fell in love with him. Mere at the age of thirteen, Saroj tied the knot with Sohanlal, who was 41 years old then and was a father of four children. However, at that time Saroj was not aware of his previous marriage and kids.

• During an interview, when asked about her marriage with Sohanlal, Saroj said,
  

  I used to study in school those days, then one day my dance master Sohanlal tied a black thread around my neck and I got married.”

• When Saroj was 14 years old, she gave birth to her first child, Hamid Khan (a popular choreographer, known by the name of Raju Khan).

• Saroj parted ways with Sohanlal in 1965, but the couple again got united after after Sohanlal suffered a hear attack.

• After learning dance for about an year, Saroj started working as an assistant choreographer to B. Sohanlal.

• The song “Nigahein Milane Ko Jee Chahta Hai” from the film ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’ was the first song that Saroj choreographed.

• She started her career as an independent choreographer in 1974 with the film, “Geeta Mera Naam.”

• Saroj had to work hard for around 10 years before tasting success in the 80s.
  

  An old picture of Saroj Khan

• It was the song “Main Naagin Tu Sapera” featuring Sridevi that earned Saroj recognition

• She was then praised for her choreography in Mr. India’s song, “Hawaa Hawaai.”
  

  Saroj Khan teaching dance steps to Sridevi

• Khan, then, went on to choreograph many songs for Madhuri Dixit like “Dhak Dhak Karne Laga,” “Ek Do Teen,” “Tamma Tamma Loge” and “Dola Re Dola.” The songs became a huge hit and established Saroj as a successful choreographer in Bollywood.
  

  Saroj Khan teaching dance to Madhuri Dixit

• Khan has worked as a choreographer in many Bollywood films like “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,” “Guru,” “Tanu Weds Manu Returns,” “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi,” and “Jab We Met.”

• Besides being a choreographer, she has also judged many dance reality shows like “Nach Baliye,” “Ustaadon ka Ustaad,” and “Boogie Woogie.”

• She even hosted the dance based show, “Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan” on NDTV Imagine in 2008.

• In 2012, a documentary on Saroj Khan titled “The Saroj Khan Story” was released by PSBT and Films Division of India.

• Saroj was the first choreographer to have received the Filmfare Best Choreography Award. In fact, the category of Best Choreography was introduced by Filmfare after watching her choreography in the song, “Ek Do Teen” from the film, ‘Tezaab.’ Not just this, Saroj held the record for winning maximum number of Filmfare Awards for the Best Choreographer category.

• Khan was also the recipient of maximum number of National Film Awards in the Best Choreography category (three wins).

• Saroj considered Madhuri Dixit as her favourite student.
  

  Saroj Khan teaching dance steps to Madhuri Dixit

• The last song that Saroj choreographed was “Tabaah Hogaye,” from the film, “Kalank” featuring Madhuri Dixit.

• On 17 June 2020, Saroj Khan was admitted to Mumbai’s Guru Nanak Hospital after complaining about breathing difficulty. On 3 July 2020, she died of a cardiac arrest.