Renu Saluja - Career

Career

She first edited, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s diploma film, Murder at Monkey Hill (1976), which went on to win National Film Award for the Best Experimental Film in 1977-78. Once out of the FTII, Renu's made her debut, with batch mate Saeed Akhtar Mirza's Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai (1980), followed by with Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Sazaye Maut (1981), then another batch-mate Kundan Shah's comedy classic, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), where her work was first appreciated. Her early work was in parallel cinema with her FTII colleagues - Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, and Ashok Ahuja.

The first offer that Renu got from outside her protected circle of 'FTII' filmmakers was Govind Nihalani's Ardh Satya, filmed in 1983. After Ardh Satya, her career really took off. She even did a stint with Doordarshan.

Parinda made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra was perhaps the first mainstream film that Renu edited, who she also assisted. Unlike the smaller films which were made in one schedule and thus she used to get the whole film in front of her before she commenced editing, Parinda was shot over a period of three years depending on star dates, availability of locations, etc.

In the 1990s Renu struck a balance between mainstream cinema as well as parallel cinema and the new crop of 'different indie films' that had cropped up following the success of Hyderabad Blues. Some of the well-known films that Renu has edited include Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983), Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993), Bandit Queen (1995), Pardes (1997), Rockford (1999) and Hey Ram (2000), Nagesh Kukunoor's Bollywood Calling and finally Calcutta Mail released in 2003 was her last edited film.

She died in Mumbai, on 16 August 2000, after ailing from stomach cancer for some time.