Sayaji Shinde (Marathi pronunciation: ]; born 13 January 1959) is an Indian actor who appears in Indian films.
Sayaji started his acting career in 1978 in Marathi Plays one-act plays. His performance in a 1987 Marathi play titled Zulva was very well received, and since then he started gaining popularity among the circle of stalwarts. Later, he moved on to Marathi cinema and then started acting in other languages. He won Filmfare Award for Best Actor â Marathi for Aboli (1995) film, for his reprising debutant role "Sayaji".
Sayaji Shinde joined the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on 11 October 2024 ahead of 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP working president Praful Patel, and State unit chief Sunil Tatkare.
Born in a farmer's family in a small village named Vele Kamthi (Pin code : 415022) in Satara District in Maharashtra, Sayaji completed his bachelor's degree in arts in Marathi language, and started his career in 1978 while studying in college as a night watchman for Maharashtra Government's Irrigation Department for a meager pay of Rs. 165 per month. During his service as a watchman, he developed an interest in theatre and his passion for acting drew him to the theatre and films. After his initial struggling years, he moved to Mumbai.
Sayaji pursued acting first through Marathi theatre. He started doing one-act plays in 1978, and went on to get noticed in plays like Zulva (1987), One Room Kitchen (1989) and Amchya Ya Gharat (1991). He then moved to acting in Marathi cinema.
The co-actor Manoj Bajpayee who saw an article on the actor in a leading national daily and recommended him to Ram Gopal Varma in his 1999 action crime Hindi film Shool. Sayaji had a career breakthrough with Gnana Rajasekaran's 2000 Tamil film Bharathi, where he played Subramania Bharati, the popular poet and writer from Tamil Nadu.
He then went on to appear in Bollywood movies like Vaastu Shastra (2003), Sarkar Raj (2008), and Sanju (2018).
Sayaji Shinde has acted in a wide range of films, portraying diverse characters, including villains, supporting roles, and occasionally, comedic roles.
He produced couple of Marathi movies. Sayaji helped Nagesh Bhonsle to produce the Marathi film Goshta Choti Dongraevadhi. He also produced the Makarand Anaspure's Dambis (2011).