In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked with both mainstream and art house Hindi cinema directors, including Govind Nihalani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt, and Vijay Singh.
[8] Her early work was in parallel cinema with her FTII colleagues, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, and Ashok Ahuja.
Later in life, she became close with director Sudhir Mishra, many of whose films she worked on, including Dharavi and Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996).
[9] In a 2005 interview, noted director, Sudhir Mishra, said that the principal character, Geeta in his acclaimed film, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005), "..is the amalgamation of all the spirited women I've known, my tribute to Renu Saluja.".
[13] In June 2009, GRAFTII, an Alumni Association of the FTII and E-City ventures, held a tribute festival of her films, including a documentary in which all the directors Saluja worked with shared their memories of her.