Beginning in the industry as a child actress, Ms. Khan went on to choreograph some of the most memorable performances of the 1980s and ’90s.
Saroj Khan, a Bollywood choreographer whose film career spanned more than 60 years, and who created some of the industry’s most famous dance scenes in the 1980s and ’90s, died on Friday morning at Guru Nanak hospital in Mumbai. She was 71.
The cause of death was cardiac arrest, a hospital spokesman said. Ms. Khan, who had been hospitalized since mid-June, tested negative for Covid-19 earlier this week, according to The Indian Express.
As the first female choreographer, Ms. Khan was a Bollywood pioneer, one of the few women working behind the camera at a time when nearly all the technicians were men. She joined the industry as a 3-year-old child actress in the early 1950s, and she became an assistant choreographer at the age of 12.
She choreographed nearly 2,000 songs, including many Bollywood classics. There was the frenetic “Ek Do Teen” from the movie “Tezaab” (1988), the raunchy “Choli Ke Peechay Kya Hai” from “Khalnayak” (1993), “Hawa Hawai” from “Mr. India” (1986), the sizzling “Dhak Dhak Karne Laga” from “Beta” (1991) and the lush songs from the period drama “Devdas” (2002). Much of her best-known work was in collaboration with the actresses Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi, who died in 2018.
“I’m devastated by the loss of my friend and guru, Saroj Khan,” Ms. Dixit said on Twitter. “Will always be grateful for her work in helping me reach my full potential in dance. The world has lost an amazingly talented person. I will miss you.”
Ms. Khan was known for outdancing some of Bollywood’s most famous dancers, teaching them to sway their hips, move their feet and emote in a dozen different ways. She incorporated elements of Indian classical and folk dances into the songs she choreographed.
