A tribute to Madhav Shinde — Sholay's sole Filmfare winner

Even 41 years after its release, Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay remains one of Hindi cinema’s greatest films. Characters like Jai, Veeru, Gabbar, Thakur, Basanti and Dhanno continue to be household names. Needless to say, the main cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Amjad Khan, Sanjeev Kumar and Hema Malini are still remembered fondly for their association with the film.

But, surprising as it may sound, despite its phenomenal success, Sholay won just one Filmfare award. The trophy was considered a prized possession back then and the results were hugely surprisingly considering that Sholay was appreciated for all aspects of filmmaking and also had some phenomenal performances. However, most of the major awards that year were won by Yash Chopra’s Deewar, which also starred Bachchan.

The only person from team Sholay to win a Filmfare award that year was Madhav S Shinde aka MS Shinde for his work as the film’s editor. Today (28 September) marks his fourth death anniversary.

Shinde had more than 75 films to his credit. After working with GP Sippy on his directorial ventures, including the successful Brahmachari (1968), he edited Ramesh's debut film Andaz (1971). From there on, he was a part of all Ramesh's directorials, except Zameen (1987). He also edited Ramesh's famous TV series, Buniyaad (1987). In other words, he was the Sippys' favourite editor. 

Sadly, Shinde faced financial hardship later in life. He spent the last two years of his life in Mumbai’s Dharavi area. He was forced to shift there after the building in Parel, where he used to stay, collapsed and the owner didn't help out. Despite working in the industry for 35 years, he was ignored by the film fraternity.

He passed away in 2012 due to old age; six years after his wife took her last breath. They are survived by three daughters. One of his daughters named Achla once said in an interview that Shinde wasn't paid his dues by some producers, but his self-respect didn't allow him to demand the same.

During his last years, when he was in dire poverty, a local political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), had provided him financial aid.