Renu Saluja — `She was a pioneer, her contribution to editing remains unmatched’

Four-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Editor, she will be sorely missed by her many friends and admirers from the industry. “She was a creative editor,” says director Mahesh Bhatt, two of whose films — Jaanam and Papa Kehte Hain — were edited by Saluja. “Apart from being excellent at her job, she was a friend to me. Her approach to work was like that of a mother cooking good food. She was never dazzled by the glamour of the film world, and had a down-to-earth approach. Yet, her sense of adventure led her to become the first editor to adopt a transition from the linear to non-linear approach,” he says.

Director Govind Nihalani whose two films, Ardha Satya and Party, were edited by Saluja said that she was the best editor the industry had. “She was very objective, unerringly precise and had a tremendous feel for the subject of the film she was editing. She had a cutting rhythm which always clipped along with the theme. Her work was distinguished by quality,” he observes.

Her death, feels HMV chief Harish Dayani, was a huge setback for the film industry. Experienced with Saluja’s skill (Dayani’s award-winning film Godmother was edited by her) he says: “She was brilliant at the art of editing.”

Manmohan Shetty of Ad Labs where Renu Saluja had an editing room, termed her death unfortunate. “Since most artistic films were processed in my lab, Renu had a hand in all these films,” he adds.

Subhash Gupta, secretary of the Association of Film Editors, knew her from their youthful days at the Film and Television Institute of India, where he was her senior. “She was the most versatile editor to achieve so much at such a young age. She was classmate of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and edited all his films, including Parinda and 1942 — A Love Story. She was as comfortable editing artistic films as she was shaping commercial films. Editing is not mechanical but creative, and she excelled as she had an understanding of where to chop unwanted portions of a film, reducing the length wherever needed and maintaining continuity from scene to scene as well as juxtapositioning it. She knew how to present the director’s conception of a film and give it shape. Her creative contribution to films is unmatched,” he says.