When Saroj Khan made Rekha cry after confronting her for skipping rehearsals and refusing to shoot: ‘I think you are allergic to me’

Saroj recalled that Rekha finally showed up on the day of the shoot but refused to go ahead with it as she was unwell. “She came on the day of the shooting. She was sitting in his car with no costume just her makeup was done. I went to her car to speak to her and she told me, ‘Cancel the shoot, I am not well.'”

Taking Rekha’s refusal to shoot personally, Saroj confronted the actor. She recalled, “I told her, ‘Rekha ji, I think you have something allergic against me. You don’t come for rehearsals and on shooting day you say you are sick. You can ask the producer to change the dance master. Tell the producer you don’t want to work with me because there is something wrong here.'”

Sharing how Rekha cried after being confronted, Saroj said, “When I looked at her, she had tears in her eyes and I told her, ‘I don’t think I said something wrong but I feel you should shoot today.’ She replied, ‘Mein karugi shooting,’ and she walked away.” Saroj remembered Rekha’s secretary approaching her about the exchange because Rekha was ‘crying away’ on set.

Saroj Khan then pacified Rekha. She recalled the actor’s response and said, “Rekha told me, ‘I respect you so much but you say that I don’t love your work.'” Saroj further spoke about how actors at the time had their preferred choreographers and that Rekha usually worked with someone else. This led her to feel that the actor didn’t want to work with her.