When Saroj Khan was replaced unceremoniously from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Rangeela

Star choreographer Saroj Khan was always known to be temperamental. When actresses  wouldn’t get her steps right, she would throw a fit and walk off. There are two major incidents when she was relieved of her choreographic duties without being informed.

Though Saroj Khan’s name appears in the credit titles of Ram Gopal Varma ’s Rangeela for the the choreography of  the songs Tanha Tanha and Hai Rama, the fact is, these numbers were  not choreographed by Ms Khan. On the morning when director Ram Gopal Varma was supposed to start shooting for the song Tanha Tanha with Urmila Matondkar, Saroj Khan  didn’t show up on the set. She sent her assistant Ahmed Khan instead, saying she will join later.

During those days, Saroj was working on 4-5  projects simultaneously. In fact, she was shooting for Ankhiyan Milaye with Madhuri Dixit in Raja when she was supposed to choreograph Tanha Tanha with Urmila in Rangeela. So she  couldn’t make it on the first day  of the shooting for the song.

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This didn’t go down well with Ramu. He took an on-the-spot decision to hire Ahmed Khan  for the choreographer ‘s job. That’s how he took over the choreography of Tanha Tanha and  Hai Rama from Saroj Khan. However, out of respect for her seniority , Saroj Khan’s name was mentioned as the choreographer of the songs in Rangeela for the two songs.

In _Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar,_ Saroj Khan was to do the choreography of the iconic song Pehla Nasha.  Farah Khan claimed over the years that she choreographed the song and that Saroj Khan had been sacked by director Mansoor Ali Khan.

Here is what actually happened. Saroj Khan went to Kodaikanal for 17 days to shoot three songs. Saroj shot a song with Girija Shattar, who was the original lading lady of Jo Jeeta Wohi  Sikandar. It took 17 days. Busy as she was, Saroj was pressed for time. She had to go to Shimla to shoot a song with Jackie Shroff for Rakesh Roshan in King Uncle.

Mansoor suggested Saroj  prepare the steps for Aamir in the song Pehla nasha which Mansoor wanted to shoot in high-speed definition.   After composing the steps for Aamir and briefing him on how to shoot in high-speed Saroj  left behind two assistants Upendra and Sheila.She went straight to Shimla.When she returned to Mumbai she  heard Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar had been stalled because the leading lady Girija Shettar  had problems. The heroine had to be changed.All the schedules went awry.

Eventually when they were shooting a song with Pooja Bedi, they called Saroj. It was impossible for her  to accommodate Mansoor into her date diary. Saroj told Mansoor to do Pooja Bedi’s song with another choreographer and that Saroj  take it up from the second song. Because Farah was an assistant director to Mansoor he told her to pitch in a bit of choreography for the title song of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.

That’s the true story of how Saroj Khan lost  two of  the  most  iconic  films songs of Hindi cinema. Not that she  cared about   her  losses. In her 45-year career as a choreographer  Saroj Khan had  major fall-outs with almost all her  leading ladies. But they always patched up. They  didn’t have a  choice. No other choreographer made the heroines look as beautiful and elegant .

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.