Madhuri Dixit and Saroj Khan’s work titillated the audience, that’s why Aaja Nachle was panned: Vaibhavi Merchant

She said, “My turning point came with Aaja Nachle. What happened was, I did win an IIFA award for the title track, but everybody else, unanimously panned my work. They did not appreciate what I did for Aaja Nachle at that point of time. Of course, now it’s looked at as a classic. But back then, I had very negative reviews, because I did not titillate the audience like Madhuri and Saroj ji’s combination did.”

Vaibhavi reasoned that since Madhuri’s character was ‘of a certain age’, and was ‘the mother of a child’, she wouldn’t ‘do a full-on nautanki’ like “Mera Piya Ghar Aaya” or “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai,” and because of this, the audience felt ‘namak kam tha’. She added, “I did not create a palate for them. I may not have created a body of work for them to understand my art and intellect…”

But Vaibhavi was also spoke very highly of the impact that Saroj Khan made in the industry, and how it made things easier for the next generation of female choreographers. “Imagine how difficult it must have been for her in the ’70s and ’80s, when she was trying to break out. It was all male-dominated. Literally women were never allowed to come in and create a niche for themselves in the industry. She broke that norm. She paved the path for all of us. She was the torch-bearer. Because of her Filmfare introduced a choreography award,” she said.

Directed by Anil Mehta, Aaja Nachle was Madhuri’s first film since 2002’s Devdas, after she’d gotten married and moved to the U.S. The film attracted mixed reviews, and was a box office flop.

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