[Saroj Khan's death] is a personal loss. Last Saturday, when I learnt that she was hospitalised, her daughter Guddi messaged me saying she was [getting] better. Saroj was slipping in and out of consciousness and could communicate. When Guddi told her that I had called to ask for her, Saroj smiled for the first time. It was an emotional moment for me.

Aruna Irani had first recommended Saroj for a song in my film Vidhaata. I told Saroj I was making a movie with Dilip Kumar and Sanjay Dutt, and had one song left to complete. It was the climax song, Pyar ka imtihan, with Sarika. I was impressed with Saroj's grace. I promised her that I would give her my next movie, if she could give me a good climax song. She worked very hard, and when she gave me the song, I gave her Hero, starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri. For the first time, at my insistence, a special category for Best Choreography was created by a publishing house, and Saroj won it that year, for Hero.