Star
choreographer
Saroj
Khan
saw
Sitara
Devi
dance
like
an
18-year-old
when
she
was
actually
70.
Such
was
the
magic
of
the
danseuse,
whom
Bollywood
celebrities
like
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Lata
Mangeshkar
will
remember
for
her
vibrancy
and
talent.
Sitara
Devi
died
here
in
Mumbai
on
Tuesday.
She
was
94.
Her
tryst
with
films
included
performed
dance
sequences
in
Usha
Haran
(1940),
Nagina
(1951),
Roti
and
Vatan
(both
1954),
Anjali
(1957)
and
the
epic
Mother
India
(1957),
her
final
role
in
which
she
danced
to
a
Holi
song
dressed
as
a
boy.
Saroj
Khan
told,
"I
have
seen
her
dance
on
stage
at
70
and
I
can
swear
on
my
profession
that
she
looked
like
an
18-year-old
girl.
She
had
a
lot
of
stamina.
She
used
to
dance
for
three
hours
alone
and
every
morning
her
practice
used
to
go
on.
She
never
gave
up
dance
till
80
or
85.
"Kathak
is
seen
in
Bollywood,
but
it's
purity
is
missing.
We
have
only
seen
her
do
it."
Veteran
actor
Manoj
Kumar
says
Sitara
Devi's
biggest
contribution
was
to
make
a
classical
form
interesting
for
the
common
man.
"She
was
a
pioneer.
She
was
tremendous
at
this
age
as
well.
She
was
an
institution.
She
lived
her
life
well.
Usually
classical
dance
is
boring
for
a
common
man,
but
she
made
it
easy
and
interesting," he
told.
Another
fan
of
Sitara
Devi's
talent,
filmmaker
Prakash
Jha
tweeted,
"Sitara
is
gone!
Dancing
into
the
heavens!
Can
never
forget
as
a
mesmerised
teenager
had
watched
her
dance
all
night."
India's
Nightingale
Lata
Mangeshkar
posted,
"Prasiddha
Nrityangana,
Abhinetri
aur
Gayika
Sitara
Devi
ji
ka
swargwas
hua
ye
sunke
mujhe
bohot
dukh
hua.
Ishwar
unki
aatma
ko
shanti
de.
(I
feel
profound
grief
upon
hearing
of
the
demise
of
famous
dancer,
performer
and
singer
Sitara
Devi.
May
god
bless
her
soul.)
Calling
her
death
a
"sad
news",
megastar
Amitabh
tweeted
that
she
was
a
"legendary
classical
dancer,
vibrant,
and
filled
with
the
essence
of
rhythm
and
movement".
Composer
Salim
Merchant
paid
his
tribute
by
tweeted,
"RIP
Sitara
Devi
Ji
-
The
goddess
of
Kathak
leaves
us
today
but
her
legacy
lives
on
forever."