New Delhi, July 4 -- She was probably one of our first women to be called "Masterji" in the gendered matrix of Bollywood, the term commanding respect for the craft that she had perfected rather than the person she was. Choreographer Saroj Khan, who died after a cardiac arrest yesterday, changed the contours of popular dance as we knew it and ensured that the film industry rated her the same way they would a music director and not consign her to the credits of being a dance instructor/trainer. And she became a much bigger cultural phenomenon before youtubers and TikTok influencers copied her footprints.

For the life of me, I am yet to understand why back in the day, the canteen at Presidency College, Kolkata, that would pride itself in fo...