She made her feature film debut as a Director with English Vinglish (2012), a film by Shinde's own relationship with her mother, who ran her own pickle Business out of her home in Pune, and was a Marathi-speaking woman, who didn't speak English well, which embarrassed Shinde as a child. As she said in an interview, "I made this film to say sorry to my mother." The film was released on 14 September 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival followed by its commercial release in India and worldwide on 5 October 2012, and went on to receive both critical and commercial success. Besides the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director, she was awarded the 'Laadli National Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity'.