When Saroj Khan called Shah Rukh Khan ‘male version of Madhuri Dixit’: ‘He deserved an award for Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein’

For Saroj Khan, her best collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan was choreographing him in “Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein” from Baazigar. Though according to her, he initially didn’t take his rehearsals seriously and ended up practicing every dance move for almost an hour on set.
In an old video, Saroj Khan is talking about making of the iconic Bollywood number, which also featured Kajol. The late choreographer said, “I’ve done ‘Kaali Kaali Aankhein’ the best with Shah Rukh. When we first composed the dance of the song, we asked him to come and rehearse. He told me we’ll do it on set only. But when he arrived on set and saw the dance, he had to practice for 40 minutes to an hour for every step. He laboured so hard for the song, he deserves an award for it. But he did his best.”

“He’s the male version of Madhuri Dixit,” Saroj Khan added with a smile, referring to SRK’s dedication and hard work on set.
“Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein” is sung Kumar Sanu and Anu Malik. In another making video of the song, Shah Rukh spoke about his anti-hero character in the movie. He said, “For the first time, we haven’t put any limitation to where the role of hero will end. The character is very different sort of a hero. It is the first time he’s been kept more human, and not like a superhero.”

Baazigar released in 1993. Directed Abbas-Mustan, the revenge drama is ranked as one of the best Bollywood thrillers till date. It also starred Rakhee, Dalip Tahil, Siddharth Ray, and Johnny Lever, and was the acting debut of Shilpa Shetty.
Baazigar cemented Shah Rukh Khan’s position in Bollywood, giving him his breakthrough role as the sole lead. Apart from this it was also Kajol’s first commercial success. Its music tops the 90s playl even to this date.