Saroj Khan, an iconic Bollywood choreographer whose dance proteges include actresses Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi, died of a cardiac arrest on Friday, immediately after being admitted to a Mumbai healthcare facility in June with respiration challenges. She was 71.

Born Nirmala Nagpal, Khan debuted as an assistant choreographer in 1960 with “Kalpana,” and honed her craft on numerous movies ahead of generating her debut as a choreographer with 1974’s “Geeta Mera Naam.” It was in the 1980s and 1990s that she became a household title throughout India for her collaborations with Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi.

Her memorable associations with Dixit include things like “Tezaab,” “Beta” and “Khalnaayak,” when with Sridevi her finest function features Shekhar Kapur’s “Mr. India,” “Nagina” and “Chandni.” A single of Khan’s most well-known is effective was “Devdas,” which premiered in Cannes in 2002, and in which she worked with Dixit and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.

Khan amassed much more than 300 film credits, acquiring choreographed far more than 2,000 tunes. She received India’s Nationwide Film Award for choreography a few times: for “Devdas,” “Sringaram,” and “Jab We Met.” She also received the American Choreography Award two times, for her function in “Hum Dil Che Chuke Sanam,” and the Oscar-nominated “Lagaan: After Upon a Time in India.” Her past film credit was 2019’s “Kalank,” the place she reunited with Dixit.

In later lifetime, Khan was a judge on Star Television set fact exhibit “Nach Baliye,” and Sony Leisure Television’s “Ustaadon Ka Ustad,” and “Jhalak Dikhlaa Ja.”

She is survived by her spouse, the veteran choreographer B. Sohanlal, with whom she produced her debut as an assistant, son Hamid and daughters Hina and Sukyna.