Piyush Mishra


Piyush Mishra is an Indian actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, musician, and screenwriter. Mishra grew up in Sambhal, and graduated from National School of Drama, Delhi in 1986. Thereafter, he started his career in Hindi theatre in Delhi. Over the next decade, he established himself as a theatre director, actor, lyricist and singer. He moved to Mumbai in 2002, receiving acclaim for his acting in Maqbool and Gangs of Wasseypur.
As a film lyricist and singer, he is noted for his songs "Arre Ruk Ja Re Bandeh" in Black Friday, "Aarambh Hai Prachand" in Gulaal, "Ik Bagal" in Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1, and "Husna" in Coke Studio.

Early life and background

Mishra was born on 13 January 1962 in Gwalior to Kumar Sharma. He grew up as Priyakant Sharma and was adopted by his father's eldest sister Taradevi Mishra, who had no children. Later, his family moved into his aunt's house to ease financial burden. His parents admitted him to Carmel Convent School, Gwalior thinking that his education in a convent will help him excel in academics but it was activities like singing, painting and acting which appealed to him. Piyush later moved to Gwalior's JC Mills Higher Secondary School. However, living in the authoritative household of his aunt, developed a rebellious streak in him, which showed up in his first poem, Zinda ho haan tum koi shak nahin, he wrote in class 8th. Later, while studying in class 10th, he even filed an affidavit before the Gwalior district court and changed his name to one his choice to Piyush Mishra.
Around this time, he began to be drawn to theatre – it was at places like Kala Mandir and Rangshri Little Ballet Troupe in Gwalior that his talent for the medium was first identified. In spite of the appreciation he was beginning to receive in the theatre circles, his family kept insisting he concentrate on his studies. He took the entrance test to the National School of Drama, New Delhi in 1983, not with any particular desire to study but to get out of Gwalior. Thereafter he moved to Delhi, and joined National School of Drama, graduating in 1986. While at NSD, he got a chance to compose his first music score for a student play, Mashreeki Hoor. His acting breakthrough came in his second year at NSD, when German director, Fritz Bennewitz, directed him in the title role in Hamlet and introduced him to acting technique. Piyush Mishra was introduced to communism by his friend N. K. Sharma in 1989 and he was a thorough Leftist worker for 20 years.

Career

Theater and television

After his graduation from NSD in 1990, Piyush Mishra started his career as a theatre actor in Delhi, and in 1990, helped start the theatre group Act One, with founder-director N. K. Sharma and stage actors like Manoj Bajpai, Gajraj Rao and Ashish Vidyarthi. In the following years he wrote and directed several plays as a part of Act One Theatre Group, including the acclaimed play, Gagan Damama Bajiyo, based on revolutionary Bhagat Singh, which was first performed in 1994, and upon publishing, sold its first edition in just seven days. In 1996 he joined Asmita Theatre Group, and performed his popular one-man shows An Evening with Piyush Mishra. He wrote the lyrics for Asmita's popular plays. Piyush acted as Maniac in operation three star. Piyush is also known for his performance in Swadesh Deepak's Court Martial as Suraj Singh, first with Ranjeet Kapoor and later under the direction of Arvind Gaur.
By then, he had established himself as a theatre director and directed Comedy of Terror play for Shriram Centre Repertory Company, and also presented his solo act play at the National School of Drama's Annual Theatre Festival, Bharat Rang Mahotsav in 1999. Mishra briefly moved to Mumbai, as he acted in a television series, Rajdhani, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia for Star TV, and Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj and horror TV serial Kile ka Rahasya, though he returned to Delhi thereafter.

Films

Mishra made his debut as a film actor with Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.. in 1998, he portrayed as C.B.I Investigation Officer. though he continued to stay in Delhi to pursue theatre. His transition from playwright to screenwriter happened when he wrote the dialogues for Rajkumar Santoshi's 2001 film The Legend of Bhagat Singh, which was inspired in part by Mishra's critically acclaimed play on Bhagat Singh – Gagan Damama Bajyo. It won him the Zee Cine Award for Best Dialogue. Meanwhile, he moved to Mumbai in November 2002, where he went on to establish a career as a film lyricist, screenwriter and as an actor. He started writing lyrics with the film, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar in 2002, and subsequently wrote for Black Friday, Aaja Nachle and Tashan.
Mishra won accolades for his performance as Kaka in Vishal Bhardwaj's 2003 film Maqbool, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. He wrote his own dialogues for his performance as Hafeez Bhai in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, and delivered them in poetry style.
Mishra again appeared in Anurag Kashyap's 2009 movie Gulaal, a movie based on Indian youth, politics, caste-prejudice, and other such social topics. He played Prithvi, the poet brother of Dukey Bana, in the movie. This was a role he executed with aplomb. He also wrote the lyrics for the songs in the movie, and sung few of them as well and was also the music director of the film. He has acted in Rockstar alongside Ranbir Kapoor and was known as the 'Image is everything...everything is Image' guy. He acted and wrote lyrics of some songs for the movie Gangs of Wasseypur. His songs are very high on poetic content and have received critical appreciation from all sections of audiences and critics.
In 2014, he acted in the film The Shaukeens, along with Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Lisa Haydon in the lead role, which had Akshay Kumar in an extended cameo. Piyush also appeared in The Kapil Sharma Show to promote the film with Anupam Kher and Annu Kapoor. Although the film was a remake of the 1982 film Shaukeen directed by Basu Chatterjee, it was well appreciated by audience and was voted the best comedy film of 2014.

Personal life

He married Priya Narayanan in 1995, whom he met in 1992 while directing a play at the School of Planning and Architecture. He lives in Andheri West, Versova, Mumbai with his wife, who is an architect, and two sons: Jai, who is pursuing Physics at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR, and Josh who is currently working at Meraki Sport and Entertainment after completing his master's degree in Sport Management at Coventry University.

Biography

Singer

  • "Chhaliya"
  • "Aarambh Hai Prachand"
  • "Duniya"
  • "Jab Sheher Hamara"
  • "Ik Bagal"
  • "Ik Bagal"
  • "Aabroo"
  • "Manva"
  • "Bargat Ke Pedo Pe Shakhe Purani"
  • "Bas Chal Kapat"
  • "Chanda Ki Katori Hai "
  • "Chal Lade Re Bhaiya"
  • "Thaayein Kare Katta"
  • "Jigarwala Sirf Woh"
  • "Hunkara"
  • "Bholasa Mann Tha"
  • "Hota Hai"

Composer

Gulaal Lahore Gangs of Wasseypur Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid
  • "Hota Hai"

Other

Husna Coke Studio (India) Season 2 O Re Manvaa Tom Dick and Harry together with Akala Ghar Coke Studio (India) Season 3 Reunion
  • ''Parle-G New Ad: Roko Mat Toko Mat''

Filmography

Actor

YearTitleRoleNote
1988Bharat Ek KhojBritish Indian Sepoy-Episode No 42/43 1857 RevoltTV series
1993SardarCameo
1998Dil Se..CBI investigator
2002SamuraiCameoTamil Film
2003ButterflyGhaniShort Film
2003Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without WomenJagannath
2003MaqboolKaka
2003Sala Bandar!NanaShort Film
2003Ek Din 24 GhantePolice Inspector
2004DeewaarQureshi
2005SuperMamaTelugu Film
20071971Major Bilal MalikA Film Based on Indo-Pak war of 1971
2007Jhoom Barabar JhoomHuffy Bhai
2007Rahim Murge Pe Mat RoRahim MurgaShort Film
2009GulaalPrithvi BanaStardust Award for Standout Performance by a Music Director
2009The White ElephantBabu
2010Tere Bin LadenMajeed Bhai
2010Lafangey ParindeyUsmaan Bhai
2010Lahore
2011Bhindi BazaarShankar Pandey
2011That Girl in Yellow BootsAuto Rickshaw Driver
2011RockstarDhingra
2012Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1Nasir Ahmed
2012Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2Nasir Ahmed
2012Remember a DaySuresh SinhaShort Film
2013The Playback SingerAshok Rao
2013Meridian LinesPrakash Kumar
2014Revolver RaniBalli
2014The ShaukeensHarishankar 'Pinky' Goyal
2015The ExileManmohan SharmaA Short Film by Sandeep Modi
2015Father's DayBijuA Short Film by Vinay Jaiswal
2015TamashaStoryteller
2015The HomecomingShort Film by Vinay Jaiswal & The Moody Nation
2016KathakaarShort film
2016Tere Bin Laden : Dead or AliveKhalili
2016Happy Bhag JayegiASP Usman Afridi
2016PinkPrashant Mehra
2018SanjuD.N. Tripathi
2018Happy Phirr Bhag JayegiASP Usman Afridi
2019QatranHusbandShort Film by Prem Singh
2020IllegalJanardhan JaitleyWeb Series
2020JL50Dr B.C MitraWeb Series
2021Matsya KaandPanditjiWeb Series
2021Illegal 2Janardhan JaitleyWeb Series
2022Salt CityHarish BajpaiWeb Series
2023Kanjoos Makhichoos
2024Main Atal HoonKrishna Bihari Vajpayee-
2024JNU: Jahangir National UniversityGuru Ji
2024Indian 2Kishan SinghTamil film
2024RareDivaker
2025AzaadRai Bahadur
2025Crazxy"White Coat" / Dr. Nihal Chatterjee
2026Rahu KetuFoofaji

Screenplay and dialogues

The Legend of Bhagat Singh – DialoguesYahaan – Screenplay and dialogues1971 – ScreenplayGhajini – DialoguesLahore – ScreenplayChittagong – DialoguesAgneepath – DialoguesShamshera – Dialogues
  • Mandi House – Screenplay and dialogues
  • Yo Jawaan Yo Kisaan – Dialogues

Awards

;Zee Cine Awards
;Stardust Awards