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, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and television. Also workingfor

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

cinema An alumnus of National School of Drama, he made his acting debut in the 1995 film '' Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!''. Later films include '' Rajkumar'' (1996) and '' Satya'' (1998). He also appeared as Apple Singh, an "icon" used by ESPN Star Sports during the

1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...

. In 2015, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) for his performance in ''

Ankhon Dekhi ''Ankhon Dekhi'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Rajat Kapoor and produced by Manish Mundra. It stars Sanjay Mishra and Rajat Kapoor. The film was released on 21 March 2014. It was the opening film at the 8 ...

''.

Early life and background

Sanjay Mishra was born into a

Maithil Brahmin Maithil Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community from the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinent that comprises Tirhut, Darbhanga, Kosi, Purnia, Munger, Bhagalpur; Bokaro in Jharkhand and Santhal Pargana divisions of India and some adj ...

family living in Darbhanga, Sakri, Narayanpur,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. 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 information ...

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

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and 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 t ...

, where he studied in

Kendriya Vidyalaya BHU Kendriya Vidyalaya BHU (KV-BHU) is situated in the city of Varanasi in the campus of Banaras Hindu University. The school is affiliated to CBSE and has classes running from 1 to 12. The regional office of Varanasi Region of KVS is located i ...

. Mishra joined the National School of Drama and graduated in 1989.

Career

Early career

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

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

in a

Mirinda Mirinda is a brand of soft drink originally created in Spain in 1959 and now owned by PepsiCo with global distribution. Its name comes from the Esperanto translation of "admirable" or "amazing". It is available in many fruit varieties, like ora ...

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

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya ...

, 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 player.

Television actor and comedian

Mishra later acted in ''

Satya ''Satya'' (Sanskrit: सत्य; IAST: ''satya)'' is a Sanskrit word loosely translated as truth, essence.A. A. Macdonell, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Asian Educational Services, , pp. 330–331 It also refers to a virtue in Indian relig ...

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

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

Office Office ''Office Office'' is an Indian Hindi-language television sitcom that premiered on SAB TV on 3 September 2001. The show was a satirical take on the prevalent corruption in India. The series starred Pankaj Kapur in the role of Mussadilal. Cast * ...

. 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'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali and written by Jaideep Sahni, based on a story by Aditya Chopra, who serves as producer under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Abhishek ...

'' and ''

Apna Sapna Money Money ''Apna Sapna Money Money'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi comedy film released on 10 November 2006. Directed by Sangeeth Sivan, ''Apna Sapna Money Money'' is a tale of several characters who are in a mad race to be rich. The film, produced by Subhash ...

''. Mishra is known for his comedic roles, although he has played more serious roles in films such as ''

Zameen Zameen may refer to: * Zameen.com, a Pakistani property website * ''Zameen'' (1943 film), a Bollywood film * ''Zameen'' (2003 film), an Indian action thriller film * ''Zameen'' (novel), an Urdu novel by Khadija Mastoor See also * Zameen (fi ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

Plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal ...

'', and '' Satya''.

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, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey in the lead roles while Asrani ...

''. 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'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language satirical black comedy film written and directed by debutante Subhash Kapoor and starring Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Sanjay Mishra, Manu Rishi and Amole Gupte in the lead roles. The music ...

''. ''Phas Gaye Re Obama'' was a serious comedy based on the recession. He directed a movie named ''

Pranaam Walekum ''Pranam Walekum'' is a Hindi film which is the maiden directorial venture of the award-winning actor Sanjay Mishra with Giselli Monteiro, Shilpa Shukla, Vindu Dara Singh, Tia Singh on the leads along with Irrfan Khan in a cameo. It is produ ...

'', which was released in January 2016, as well as ''Dhama Choukdhi'', which also starred Dipraj Rana and model

Rozlyn Khan Rozlyn Khan is a Mumbai-based actress and PETA model known for her breast cancer awareness activities. Career Khan has appeared in television advertisements, most notably for Fruity drink, Monaco biscuits and Kelvinator. Khan appears in the f ...

. Besides working in the Hindi film industry, he has also acted in Bhojpuri cinema. His only Bhojpuri release to date is ''Rang Li Chunariya Tere Naam''. In 2014, he played the critically acclaimed role of a male protagonist in the film ''

'', directed by

Rajat Kapoor Rajat Kapoor (born 11 February 1961) is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema. Kapoor was born in Delhi, India. He mainly focused on acting at first. In 2013 he joined the theatre group Chingari in Delhi, later mov ...

. Mishra 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 4 t ...

for his role as ''Bauji'', the protagonist of the film. His dialogue "Dhondu, Just Chill" and comic timing in ''

All the Best All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

'' gained him wide recognition. His latest release ''

'' 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 2008 film ''Bhoothnath'', the film revolves around Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) who is mocked ...

'', ''

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 a ...

'' 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, starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Mishra and ...

'' all brought positive reviews. In the year, 2013, he also acted as a leading actor in the film ''

Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga ''Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga'' () is a 2013 Bollywood satire film directed by Anshul Sharma starring Sanjay Mishra and Pragati Pandey. Written by Rupesh Thapliyal and Vijay Manral, Lyrics by Naveen Tyagi the film also has Ranjan Chhabra, Disha, Vis ...

''. He has worked mainly in Hindi, as well as Telugu, Bhojpuri, and Punjabi. His films ''

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo ''Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language romantic 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 Bhaskar, Deep ...

'', '' 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''. In 2017 he worked in ''Mangal Ho'', ''Golmaal Again'', and ''Newton'' movies. Mishra was the lead in the 2017 Hindi-language movie ''

Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain is an Indian edutainment show on NDTV Imagine that premiered on 24 March 2008. It was produced by BIG Synergy. Synopsis ''Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain'' is an edutainment show that teaches the English language in an entertai ...

'' which shows the love story of a mature couple.

Filmography

Television

Director

*''

'' *''Dhama Choukdhi''

Other works

He gave his voice for Pumbaa in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...

'' 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