Farah Khan is so frustrated: Saroj Khan - Page 2

OSO hardly required direction: Saroj Khan

Suruchi Mazumdar
Posted online: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 0000 hours IST

Saroj Khan spares some time to give us a taste of her candour and dwells on her equation with Madhuri.
Bollywoods master choreographer isnt known to be particularly sugary and kind to stars while making them dance to her tunes; and even worse to probing journalists. (I once had a brush of her temper over telephone.) So I try to be as well mannered as possible when I meet Saroj Khan at Matungas Riverdale Studios where she is shooting for her forthcoming show Nachle Ve With Saroj Khan.

In the new show, Khan shares her dancing skills with ordinary viewers. "I dont have to tolerate star tantrums. Thats one good point of a show like this, says Khan, offering us a taste of her candour. The shoot of a particular episode is over. And even as Khan carefully watches her dance moves on the monitor, she instructs the technicians to light up the sprawling and classical dance floor and strikes a pose on our request for a photo-shoot, ignoring a sprained foot.

Recently, her most favourite pupil Madhuri Dixit (whom she fondly calls MD) made a comeback with Yash Raj Films Aaja Nachle, for which the hip services of Vaibhavi Merchant were employed. Khan ended up defending her rift with Dixit and Yash Chopra.

Even as I raise the tattle du jour, Khan chooses to clear the smoke. "My style has become deeply ingrained in Madhuris dance and body movements. No wonder Aajas choreography reminded people of me. You cant blame Vaibhavi, she says.

As we chat, her disinterest in new age Hindi cinema and current crop of heroines becomes apparent. Khan states the good days of Bollywood choreography is over with the end of the dancing queens era. "MD is my child. Like always, she phoned me when she returned to India and I asked her whether she has put on weight. She spoke to me again few days before she left, she says. "Same goes for my equation with Yashji. I know he will ask me to choreograph whenever he directs a movie.

Among the new generation heroines, Khans only favourite is Vidya Balan. "Id love to train her. I have seen traces of Madhuri in her, she says. However, for her debut film as director, Sati, Khan had zeroed on Priyanka Chopra. "The film is shelved at present. The subject is controversial, says Khan. "The film would have had three heroines. None of the lead roles were good enough for Madhuri.

The time for my interview is long over. But Khan is in a mood to talk"she has placed her injured foot on a footstool and made herself comfortable. "I cant give any credit to Farah Khan for direction. Om Shanti Om hardly required any directorial skills, she says. "Its an out-and-out Shah Rukh Khan show.

Oops, she did it again.