5 Jul – Bhushan Kumar of T-Series recently announced that his company has acquired the rights for a biopic on legendary Bollywood dance choreographer, Saroj Khan. Bhushan, who dubbed Saroj as India's first female choreographer stated that he will be producing the film after successfully getting the rights from Saroj's children Raju, Sukaina, as well as children of the choreographer's late daughter Hina Khan.
"Sarojji not only mesmerised the audiences with actors performing her dance moves, but she also revolutionised the choreography scene in Hindi cinema. Her dance forms told stories which helped every filmmaker. She brought audiences to the theatres who saw their favourite actors dancing to her steps," he said. "Sarojji's journey that started as early as a three-year-old was met with a lot of ups and downs and the success and respect she gained from the industry has to be brought to life. I remember visiting film sets with my father and seeing her bring life to the songs with her choreography. Her dedication towards the art was commendable. I am glad Sukaina and Raju agreed to let us make this biopic of her mother," he added. Born Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal, Saroj has choreographed more than 3,500 songs, including 'Dhak Dhak Karne Laga' from the movie "Beta", 'Ye Ishq Haaye' from "Jab We Met", 'Nimbooda Nimbooda' from "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", as well as the famous 'Dola Re Dola' performance by Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai in "Devdas". She also won Best Choreography at the National Film Awards for the latter performance. Saroj passed away on 3 July last year of a sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 71. Her last work was choreographing Madhuri Dixit in the 2019 movie, "Kalank". It is noted that T-Series has produced a sheer number of films since the '90s including Salman Khan's "Ready", Ajay Devgan's "Raid", and Abhishek Bachchan's "Ludo".