Sanjay Mishra (born 6 October 1963) is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

and television. He has twice won the

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Superlatives * The record of the maximum number of wins in this category is with Amitabh Bachchan having won the award ...

for his performances in the films '' Ankhon Dekhi'' (2015) and '' Vadh'' (2022) along with several other awards and nominations. An alumnus of

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

, he made his acting debut in the 1995 film '' Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!''. Later films include '' Rajkumar'' (1996) and ''

Satya (Sanskrit: ; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as "truth" or "essence.“ In Indian religions, it refers to a kind of virtue found across them. This virtue most commonly refers to being truthful in one's thoughts, speech and act ...

'' (1998). He also appeared as Apple Singh, an "icon" used by

ESPN Star Sports Fox Sports Asia (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version o ...

during the

1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, also branded as England '99, was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with selected matches also played in Wales, ...

. He is known for his performances both in drama and comedy genre movie productions.

Early life and background

Mishra was born in

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

Maithil Brahmin Maithil Brahmins are the Indo-Aryan Hindu Brahmin community originating from the Mithila region and original inhabitants of Southern Nepal and bordering regions of India that comprises Madhesh Province & some areas of Koshi Province in Nepal ...

Family, Sakri,

Narayanpur, Darbhanga Narayanpur is a village in Darbhanga district, Bihar States and territories of India, state, India. It is located from Darbhanga, the district headquarters. Narayanpur is a village with a population of 2,655 as per the 2011 census of India, 2 ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Mishra's father Shambhu Nath Mishra was an employee at the

Press Information Bureau The Press Information Bureau, commonly abbreviated as PIB, is a nodal agency of the Government of India under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Based in National Media Centre, New Delhi, Press Information Bureau disseminates informati ...

and both his grandparents were Indian civil servant. When his father got transferred he moved to

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, where he studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya BHU. Mishra joined the

and graduated in 1989.

Career

Early career

Mishra did many commercials and small movie roles before he got the opportunity to stand

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

in a

Mirinda Mirinda ( ) is a brand of soft drink that was created in Spain in 1959 and has been distributed globally by PepsiCo since 1970. Its name comes from the Esperanto translation of "admirable" or "amazing". It is available in many fruit varieties, ...

commercial. In 1991, on his first day of shooting the television series

Chanakya Chanakya (ISO 15919, ISO: ', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragup ...

, he reportedly took 28 takes. The director left him with an assistant director so that he could rehearse for the shoot. His first released movie was '' Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!'' in 1995 in which he played a small part as a

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

player.

Television actor and comedian

Mishra later acted in ''

'' and '' Dil Se..'', which helped him in securing the role of Shukla, a corrupt Paan-loving employee, in the famous television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Office Office ''Office Office'' is an Indian Hindi language satirical comedy television series. It consists of short stories and focuses on government and other offices in corrupt situations. It premiered on SAB TV on 3 September 2001. The show was a satiric ...

. In the next few years, he acted mainly in TV serials before moving to films exclusively. He left television serials in 2005 after he got recognition for his role in ''

Bunty Aur Babli ''Bunty Aur Babli'' (transl. ''Bunty and Babli'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali, written by Jaideep Sahni from a story by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film s ...

'' and '' Apna Sapna Money Money''. Mishra is known for his comic roles, although he has played more serious roles in films such as '' Zameen'', ''

Charas Charas is a cannabis concentrate made from the resin of a live cannabis plant (''Cannabis sativa'' either ''Cannabis indica, ''Indica' subspecies or ''Sativa'' subspecies) and is handmade in the Indian subcontinent. The plant grows wild thr ...

'', ''

Plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a modal logic, temporal set (mathematics), set of intended actions through wh ...

'', and ''

''.

Film actor

In 2006, Mishra acted in and gained fame from the back-to-back hit films '' Golmaal: Fun Unlimited'' and ''

Dhamaal ''Dhamaal'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Indra Kumar and produced by Ashok Thakeria. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey in the lead roles, with Asr ...

''. Over the next few years, he appeared in small roles in many multi-starer big banner films before getting nationwide popularity for his role as RGV in '' All the Best: Fun Begins'' and '' Phas Gaye Re Obama''. ''Phas Gaye Re Obama'' was a serious comedy based on the recession. He directed a movie named '' Pranaam Walekum'', which was released in January 2016, as well as ''Dhama Choukdhi'', which also starred Dipraj Rana and model Rozlyn Khan. In 2014, he played the critically acclaimed role of a male protagonist in the film '' Ankhon Dekhi'', directed by

Rajat Kapoor Rajat Kapoor is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and early career Rajat Kapoor was born in Delhi, India and grew up in Old Delhi. In 1983 he joined the theatre group Chingari in Delhi. In 1985 he ...

. Mishra won the

for his role as ''Bauji'', the protagonist of the film. His dialogue "Dhondu, Just Chill" and comic timing in '' All the Best'' gained him wide recognition. His latest release '' Ankhon Dekhi'' proved him as a serious actor. His movies ''

Bhoothnath Returns ''Bhoothnath Returns'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language supernatural comedy film directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Bhushan Kumar. A sequel to the 2008 film '' Bhoothnath'', the film revolves around Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) who is ...

'', ''

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

'' and ''

Dum Laga Ke Haisha ''Dum Laga Ke Haisha'' (), released internationally as ''My Big Fat Bride'', is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sharat Katariya and produced by Maneesh Sharma. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana a ...

'' all brought positive reviews. In the year, 2013, he also acted as a leading actor in the film '' Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga''. His films ''

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo ''Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language romantic family drama film written and directed by Sooraj Barjatya. Produced by Rajshri Productions, it stars Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Anupam Kher, Swara Bhask ...

'', '' Dilwale'' and many small budget films released in 2015, all brought him accolades. During the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, he did a commercial called ''Mauka Mauka''.

Filmography

Television

Director

*'' Pranaam Walekum'' *''Dhama Choukdhi''

Other works

He gave his voice for Pumbaa in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' for the Hindi language audio.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Sanjay 1963 births Living people Indian male television actors Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema National School of Drama alumni 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors from Bihar Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni People from Saharsa district Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners