It’s not good to pit women against each other, but my hope is this post turns into more of an appreciation for how good each of these women is and an awareness of their skill. Plus, their songs with Shahrukh were some of their best, so it’s a fair way to limit things.
Saroj Khan:
“Chalak Chalak” from Devdas
“Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna” from DDLJ
Farah Khan
“Chaiyya Chaiyya” from Dil Se
“Mitwa” from Kabhi Alveda Na Kehna
Vaibhavi Merchant:
“Radha” from Jab Harry Met Sejal
“Haule Haule” from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Okay, which of these choreographers is your favorite? Or which of these songs? I’m not gonna say “best”, but which is most to your taste?
dontcallitbollywood 
Favorite songs:
1. Chaiyya Chaiyya
2. Radha
3. Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna
4. Haule Haule
By choreographers I think I’ll just go with my majority of my favourite list and by that it seems to be Vaibhavi Merchant. Her work in these two is so natural, easy to follow and dance to by oneself, and come from the characters personalities more than what will make the best dance beat to the song or the most difficult move. At least not that kind of difficulty that is easily noticeable as in the other songs with many people in them. That is my analysis on how both of her songs ended up in the majority. Both happen to also be my favourite songs from my favourite movies and albums so its not difficult to see why they ended up on the list.
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I’m torn, because I think all 6 of these songs might be tied as favorites for me! All the ones you picked, plus I love Mitwa and Chalak Chalak. Which means I can’t follow your system, since they are all tied.
On the other hand, I agree about Vaibhavi’s songs seeming so natural and character based versus complex and spectacle based. It’s not just with Shahrukh, Vaibhavi songs in general just feel like more fun. Maybe as a choreographer she is more open to improvisation?
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Seconded. Haule Haule and Radha are two of the songs where he seems most natural and effortlessly in character to me. Chaiyya Chaiyya is obviously a classic of all time but it has almost nothing to do with the movie or character.
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I hope someday Vaibhavi makes the move to direct. Based on how she brings out performances just in song sequences, I can only imagine what she would do with a full film.
On Tue, Aug 6, 2019 at 9:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have to say my favorite is Farah, based on the sheer volume of great songs they’ve done together.
But I love how Vaibhavi takes him out of his comfort zone (Ishq Shava), and I love that Saroj patiently taught baby Shah Rukh (Kaali Kaali Ankhein). (Please forgive spelling errors, I’m on my phone.)
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Now I’m thinking that the great Vaibhavi songs might simply be a function of coming in later in his career when he had more skills. If Farah had tried to do Ishq Shava with him in 1995, it would have turned into an embarrassing disaster. Or maybe she did try, gave up, and said “okay, forget all the footwork and the hand gestures, we are going to do elbow pumps and rhythmic stomps like usual”.
On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 8:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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