Renu Saluja

Renu Saluja, born in 1952, honestly, she’s one of those unsung geniuses who worked magic behind the scenes in Indian cinema. If you know anything about editing, you’ll know it’s not exactly glamorous—no one’s lining up for autographs from the person who makes sure a movie doesn’t turn out a confusing mess. But Renu? She had this crazy knack for pulling stories together, making everything tighter, sharper, just... more alive. Her work on “1942: A Love Story”—people still rave about it. It’s one of those films where the editing quietly steals the show, even if most folks don’t realize it. But she didn’t just edit, she also did some assistant directing, which basically means she was juggling a million things at once. “The Pigeon” (1989), another one she worked on, is a bit more under the radar. Still, her touch is there—she knew how to keep the audience hooked, even without all the Bollywood bells and whistles. And then there’s “Godmother” (1999). That film? Gritty, raw, and you feel every bit of it, partly because of how Renu pieced it together. She wasn’t just ticking boxes—she cared about the art, and you can totally feel that. She died in August 2000 in Mumbai, which, yeah, was way too soon. But her influence? Still hanging around, quietly shaping Indian movies. It’s wild how someone who mostly stayed out of the spotlight managed to change so much about how people tell stories on screen.