Published 13:30 IST, July 3rd 2020
Saroj Khan had special gesture for good students; Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy proud of it
Saroj Khan had a special gesture for her good students, as was revealed by Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy who proudly recalled her gift on performing well.
Teachers use various ways to motivate their students. One might recall how Ramakant Achrekar used to gift Sachin Tendulkar the coin on his stumps if he did not get out on the day, before the youngster went on to become a legend. Saroj Khan too had a similar gesture to give a thumbs up to those grasping her dance steps well.
As Saroj Khan passed away on Friday, some of the recipients of the veteran choreographer’s token of appreciation recalled their feeling of pride. Amitabh Bachchan was shattered on hearing the news of Saroj Khan’s death and penned one of the best tributes, tracing her journey from being one of the many background dancers to becoming the top choreographer of the country, and recalling many other memories.
Big B’s note had a heartwarming anecdote on how Saroj Khan would call the artists she was directing aside and give the person a rupee coin as a gesture, 'as a pat on the back' or as a ‘shagun’ when her student gave a good shot under her care. The Piku star was also a recipient once and called it an ‘immense achievement.’
Mouni Roy too seemed to have impressed Saroj Khan with her performance. Apart from paying a tribute to veteran, calling her a ‘beautiful teacher, creator, human’ and calling those who learnt 'adayaki' from her as ‘lucky’, the actor used #thehundredrupreenote as a hashtag, as the gift amount seemed to have grown over the years and the Brahmastra star was proud of it.
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Amitabh Bachchan also recalled how Saroj, as a background dancer on the sets of Bandhe Haath kept dancing despite the fact that the ‘foetus in her stomach had shifted.’ The National Award-winner hailed her progress later, as she became synonymous for the moves for every actor she worked with. Big B also remembered how Saroj Khan told him about always requesting the theatre usher in Dubai to allow her to only watch his Khaike Paan Banaraswala song in the hit Don, after which she’d come out.
Big B credited the choreographer for introducing the industry to ‘rhythm, style, grace of movement and the art of converting the lyrics in a song to a meaning in dance.’
Amitabh Bachchan was among numerous stars who paid tributes to the 3-time National Award-winning choreographer. Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Ajay Devgn and one of those to display her moves in iconic dance numbers, Madhuri Dixit, too expressed their grief and tributes to ‘Master ji.’ Saroj Khan passed away of cardiac arrest at a Mumbai hospital on Friday and was laid to rest the same day.
Updated 13:30 IST, July 3rd 2020