Sanjay Mishra is the actor who can make his audience laugh in splits and make them cry the next moment. The underrated actor has worked in 150+ movies over his 3 decade-long career in the industry. Born in a family that values art, growing up in the musical streets of Banaras with the legendary musicians, the actor knows real art. When he came from NSD, he hoped to be an actor, not a hero, and that’s what he is.
Sanjay hates it when somebody teaches him anything. He believed he could learn on his own. He spent months bunking school for fun & frolic. In Banaras, Sanjay was absent from school for a month and used to catch kites near Ganga. His father, when caught him, got so furious that Sanjay jumped into the Ganga and learned swimming that day.
Owing to his father’s interest in music, he came in contact with many “gurus” of music in Banaras. He met with Gudai Maharaj and impersonated him by donning a gamcha & eating paan, but he’d never go & learn from him. He would do antics to get Bismillah Khan’s attention, which he did, but not sit and learn. He wrote poems to show his father but stopped showing him later because he pointed out mistakes.
He was then sent to Begusarai, Premchand’s nephew’s place, where he watched Qurbani and impersonated Firoz Khan. He got into a train to Delhi with vegetable vendors without a ticket, for which that “Firoz Khan” was humiliated. He had ₹10 with him, with which he hired an auto to reach home. Milkman was there, so he drank some milk and rang the bell. When the door opened, he “puked.” His mother got angry at his father for making him go.
In Delhi, he skipped school again for a month and was found making jacks for ₹5. He had a huge fight when his father found out, and he left home after stealing ₹50 from his mother. He gambled & made ₹500 when his father found him & asked him to meet his mother. He failed his studies, and even his siblings studied with him & got promoted. His disappointed father’s friend saw his Kundali & told him to set Sanjay free, and he’ll make the family's name.
People like Krishna Sobti went to Shambhunath and convinced him to send Sanjay to NSD. He topped the NSD entrance test but was reluctant to go there because they’d “teach.” He was even made the scapegoat of NSD politics because of his popularity when they wanted to remove their director. He was asked to vacate his hostel room within 7 days. His entire batch stood by him and told them that they’d leave too if he left.
When he came to Mumbai, he thought he’d get work quickly or maximum, it’d take him a year to establish himself. But that didn’t happen, and he started doing portfolios of budding actors for Rs.500-600. He didn’t like it in Mumbai and used to sit at the railway station and cry seeing trains to Delhi. But he knew he couldn’t go back, and he had to work, so he did a few TV shows for a steady income. Office Office was signed solely for money to cough-up rent, though after 2 days, he loved the way comedy was dealt in the show. He practiced his craft doing minor roles in movies. After years, even after establishing himself as an actor, Sanjay was homesick & missed home-cooked food.
He had just come back from surgery when his movie Aloo Chaat was released & he went to watch the movie with his father. People saw him at the theatre and forced him to take pictures with him. He got irritated quickly because he’s been on heavy medications and shouted at the man and his father when he tried to reason with him. A few days later, his father died, and Sanjay Mishra went into a personal life crisis when he thought about his life’s motive. He went to Varanasi and worked at a Dhaba for Rs.150. People recognized him & took photos with him. His mother wanted him to come home when he got Rohit Shetty’s call, and he decided to return to acting. The actor who made everyone laugh and told Dhondu Beta to just chill, used to cry missing his father in his van.
He’s the actor who learned acting on the producer’s money. But he’s among the best today. On his first take, though, he embarrassingly took 28 takes and resolved never to read scripts again. He listens to the scripts, pictures the story & visualizes himself playing the character. He would ask the director to narrate the script repeatedly before a scene. Before, the directors used to be stuck on the scenes, but today, they’re all in to follow his methods.
Sanjay Mishra is an underrated actor who’s happy to be one. He believes that if he’d been overrated, he might have become outdated by now. He came to the industry to be an actor, and today, people mostly know him by his characters instead of his name. He’s content by the fact that he’s able to touch the hearts of people through his craft.
