During an old interview, choreographer Saroj Khan revealed that she once made veteran actor Rekha cry after telling her she was ‘allergic to’ her and suggested that she change dance masters.

Saroj had requested Rekha for a problematic dance in a song for Sheshnaag, but the actor didn’t show up due to her prior shooting commitments. When Rekha arrived for the shoot a few days later, Saroj remembered the actor sitting in her car outside. Saroj asked Rekha to cancel the shoot as she was unwell.

Sheshnaag (1990) is a fantasy film produced by Syed Ayub, Deepak Adhiya, and Nalini Shankar under the AA Films banner directed by KR Reddy. In addition to Rekha, it also starred Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, Madhavi, and Mandakini. The music was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

In a 1990 interview before the film’s release, Saroj Khan mentioned that she had spoken to Rekha and said, ‘Rekha ji, I think you are allergic to me. I called you for rehearsals, but you didn’t come. You come for the shoot but say that you are not well. You can talk to the producer and change the dance masters, tell them that you don’t want to work with me. Something is wrong. If you don’t want to work with me, tell Ayub.’

Saroj remembered Rekha turning towards her with tears in her eyes. Saroj assured Rekha that she had not said anything wrong to her but felt that she should shoot that day. Rekha said she would ‘shoot’ and went to get ready. Later, Rekha’s secretary asked Saroj what she had said to Rekha because Rekha was crying. Saroj explained to Rekha that the actor told her, ‘I respect you a lot, but you said I don’t love your work.’

The choreographer clarified, ‘I didn’t say that. I just felt that way because everyone has their favorites. Govinda calls Chinni Prakash because he likes his style. If Dimple Kapadia calls Chinni Prakash, I shouldn’t mind it. Just because she is my student doesn’t mean she has to call me. Sridevi calls me because she likes me.’ Rekha has her favorite Kamal. I don’t mind. I told Rekha, ‘You can tell me if you don’t want to dance with me. You can dance with Kamal. There’s no problem. But canceling someone’s shooting for four days is not right.’

Rekha said that wasn’t the case, but she would ‘do this whole song and show you how I can dance.’ In that moment of anger and spirit, the dance came out beautifully. Saroj recalled that Rekha did all the movements without making any changes, and there was no misunderstanding between them.