It was time to raise a toast for the choreographers who have made our beloved stars dance for years together. A number of choreographers gathered yesterday evening at Raheja Classic Club, Andheri (W) to celebrate Choreographer's Day.

Present under one roof were veteran and present day choreographers Jay Borade, Vaibhavi Merchant, Raju Khan, Saroj Khan, Farah Khan, Remo D' Souza, Longinus Fernandez, Shruti Merchant, Terence Lewis, Habiba Rehman, Ahmed Khan, Seemaa Desai, Pappu Khanna and many others.

The event began with the Chief Guest of the evening Hema Malini lighting up the diya along with the members of the association. The award function started with the AV of the work done by late as well as the present day choreographers.

The families of late choreographers Shri Satyanarayan Master, Shri Badri Prasad, Shri Surya Kumar, Shri Benjamin Herman, Shri Sohanlal B, Shri Hiralal B, Shri Gopi Kishan, Shri P.L. Raj, Shri Sohanlal Khanna, Shri Manohar Naidu, Shri Suresh Bhatt, Shri Kamal, Shri Subal Sarkar and Shri Sachin Shankar collected the awards on their behalf for their contribution in the field of choreography.

The New Award winning choreographers included Ahmed Khan, Bosco & Ceaser, Remo D’Souza, Longinus Fernandes, Ganesh Hegde, Ganesh Acharya, Shruti Merchant, Habiba Rehman, Bhushan Lakhandhari, Umesh Jaadhav, Bhupendra Sayan(Bhupi), Pappu Khanna, Ricky Gupta, Ram Devan, Kannu Mukherji, Narendra Pandit and Deepali Vichare.

Jay Borade, Shiamak Davar, Saroj Khan, Farah Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant and Chinni & Rekha Prakash were felicitated as National Award Winning Choreographers. The AV of their award winning songs was also played.

Also awarded under veteran choreographer category were Kiran Kumar, Madhav Kishan, Vijay & Oscar, Baba Herman, Praveen Kumar, Shankar Vyas and Chinno Kumar.

Hema Malini graced the event with her presence and was seen bonding a lot with Saroj Khan. The Dance Director's Association who organised the event also felicitated the fellow choreographers for their achievments in the field of dancing.

The dance gurus also celebrated birthday of Farah Khan by cutting a huge cake and showering good wishes upon her. Farah was visibly touched by the sweet gesture.