Bollywood lost another gem this year with the passing away of its beloved choreographer Saroj Khan from cardiac arrest. Famously known as Masterji, she worked in the industry for around four decades and choreographed more than 2000 songs.
The three-time National Award winner was hospitalized last week after she complained of breathlessness. Khan had tested negative for COVID-19. While the dance legend leaves a great legacy, recent times saw her riddled with issues in Bollywood.
Though the veteran’s dance moves were perfectly synchronized and fluid, and her life full of awards and accolades, things weren’t as consistent in her final years. She lost a lot of plum assignments due to her outspokenness and spent her last years troubled, as she courted controversy of one kind or another.
One such storm that made headlines this year, was the tussle between her and choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Khan was one of the few people who took on her colleague, claiming he exploited the dancers and used his position to malign the Cine Dancers Association (CDA).
In January 2020, a few weeks before the Corona Crisis hit us, Khan addressed a press conference and stated, “I am just saddened that Ganesh wants to divide this association which he and his father have been associated with.”
Acharya leveled with Khan by threatening to file a defamation suit against her and publicly accusing her of conspiring against him. “This is a conspiracy against me to malign my image. There are people like Saroj Khan and her colleagues who are involved in corruption in the industry. Their business has flopped as I have entered the association,” he egoistically retorted.
He denied accusations made against him. But it can be imagined that Acharya, dragging a veteran like Saroj Khan into petty controversy, might have caused her immense emotional pain.
Khan was always vocal about injustice within the industry. She often spoke about her desire to choreograph again and wished for the audience to appreciate original choreography over copied western dance moves.
