Veteran Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan passed away on Friday morning. She was admitted to Mumbai's Guru Nanak Hospital on June 20 after complaining of difficulty in breathing. She was 71.
The three-time National Award winner had choreographed some of the most memorable songs in Hindi cinema.
The mandatory COVID-19 test done at the hospital showed a negative result.
According to reports, she passed away due to cardiac arrest at around 2:30 am at the hospital. Ms Khan's nephew Manish Jagwani was quoted by news agency PTI.
Saroj Khan, who has won three National Awards for Best Choreography for her work in Devdas, Jab We Met and the 2007 Tamil film Shringaram, is credited with choreographing more than 2,000 songs.
In a career spanning over four decades, she has choreographed some of the most popular Bollywood tracks such as Ye Ishq Haaye featuring Kareena Kapoor from the 2007 film Jab We Met, Ek Do Teen featuring Madhuri Dixit from Tezaab, Dola Re Dola from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan.
She last choreographed for Tabaah Hogaye, featuring Madhuri from filmmaker Karan Johar's production Kalank in 2019.
Tributes poured in from the Bollywood fraternity after hearing the sad demise of Khan.
Actor Akshay Kumar tweeted, "Woke up to the sad news that legendary choreographer #SarojKhan ji is no more. She made dance look easy almost like anybody can dance, a huge loss for the industry. May her soul rest in peace."
Another actor Riteish Deshmukh also tweeted saying, "Riteish Deshmukh wrote on Twitter: "Rest in Peace Saroj Khan ji. This loss is immeasurable for the industry & film lovers.Having choreographed more than 2000 songs she single handedly changed the landscape of how songs were shot. I had the pleasure of being Choerographed by her in Aladin. One tick off my bucketlist."
