Lessons from a Dancing Diva

It was the 75th birth anniversary of one of the most iconic choreographers, Saroj Khan. While she had worked with most top actresses, not many people know that she had choreographed Saif Ali Khan for Ole Ole. Amongst the actresses, she worked extensively with Madhuri Dixit and the pair gave some of the most popular songs namely Ek Do Teen and Dhak Dhak. Infact Madhuri came to be known as the Dhak Dhak girl.

While we enjoy these songs and the picturizations till today, not many know the background to these iconic numbers. Take for instance, Ek Do Teen. Did you know that when the song was offered to Saroj Khan she got her team of dancers to sit and watch her while she set the choreography. They were instructed to stand up if they found any part of the sequence objectionable. Saroj Khan finished the song in 20 mins flat!!! ?

Dhak Dhak is from the superhit film Beta. The movie was complete, and the song was left out. Saroj Khan spoke to Indra Kumar to include it. Problem was the availability of studio or set and even dates of Madhuri Dixit. Saroj Khan suggested to explore the set of another producer and they found a set constructed to depict ruins and decided to work with it. Then she convinced Madhuri Dixit to do the song. Madhuri’s dates were a problem so she would shoot elsewhere the whole day and arrive at this studio at 7pm, be ready and shoot from 9 pm to 1 am for 3 consecutive days!!!. The song was complete in 12 hours over 3 nights. ?

What is my takeaway from this? If you are talented, have conviction and a solution-oriented mindset, then you can move mountains.