17 Lesser-Known Facts About Sanjay Mishra, A Powerhouse Of Acting

The man has been part of cinema for about 27 years now, delivering strong and versatile performances. Sanjay Mishra is among one of the few actors in the industry who has executed those unconventional roles to perfection. Making way into the audience’s heart through his perfect comic timing and superb acting skills, Sanjay Mishra has indeed come a long way. Like many other people in the Hindi film industry, Sanjay Mishra had a life full of struggle and many ups and downs. And finally he has started to get the recognition he deserved.

Here are some interesting facts about Sanjay Mishra:

1. Early life

Sanjay Mishra was born to Shambhu Nath Mishra on 6th October 1963, Darbhanga, Bihar. His father worked in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and his grandfather was a district magistrate.

2. Education

Sanjay Mishra did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, BHU, in Varanasi, UP. He did his graduation from the National School of Drama, New Delhi. He flunked class 10th twice and was never interested in studies. He knew his true calling was a field in arts.

3. Influenced by grandmother

Sanjay Mishra’s grandmother was the one from whom he was influenced. She used to sing for Patna radio station and Sanjay spent his childhood vacations with her.

4. Struggling days

Sanjay Mishra moved to Mumbai in 1991. However, he could not land any significant roles to start his career the way he wanted. From 1991 till 1999, he tried his hand at almost everything including lighting, art direction and camerawork. And during those years at times he had to survive on vada pao only.

5. The 28 Take story

In the year 1991, he landed himself a role in the television series Chanakya. However, on his very first day of shoot, he could not get the scene right and it was only on the 28th take that it went as desired. For this incident he blames his trait for getting too deeply into a character, which in this case was different from the one that the director had in mind.

6. Debut in Bollywood

He made his debut in Hindi films in 1995 with a small role in a movie called Oh Darling! Ye hai India!

7. Welcomed fame

The World Cup series of 1999 brought him unimaginable fame as he became astonishingly popular with his character of Apple Singh in commercials running onscreen. He was later adopted as the face of the channel.

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8. Struggle comes to an end

His debut did not help him carve a niche for himself until he acted in the movie Bunty aur Babli, in 2005. Then there was no looking back and ever since he has been known and widely appreciated for his roles in movies like All the Best, Dhamaal and the Golmaal series. He became a household name after he landed a role in the famous sit com Office Office.

9. Series of sudden tragedies

During the shooting of Office Office he fell critically ill and contracted a stomach infection so severe that he had to be hospitalised. It has been said that the doctors removed around 15 liters of pus from his stomach.

Another tragedy stuck when merely 15 days after his recovery, his father passed away.

10. Setback after his father passed away

After his father’s demise, Mishra did not want to come back to Mumbai. So he changed base to Rishikesh and started working at a dhaba, by making omelettes. Many guests would recognise him from his work in his previous movies but that did not change his mind. Finally Rohit Shetty was able to convince him to return back to Mumbai and act in his then upcoming movie ‘All the Best’.

Also read: Sanjay Mishra’s Struggle Story Who Once Left Bollywood To Work At A Dhaba

11. His belief in doing small films

He believes in doing small films as those serve as good rehearsals at the same fetch him money. Along with that he reasons that he by signing many movies he gets to travel a lot, which he truly enjoys.

12. Marriage life

Sanjay Mishra first marriage during his NSD failed and he was scarred to marry again. But after his mother insisted him, he married Kiran in 2009, in an arranged marriage.

13. Commitment for job is the first priority

While shooting for Baadshaho he came to know that his brother had gone into coma. This shook him up but Sanjay continued shooting. For him, acting is his job and a commitment that he had to fulfill.

13. Apart from acting in Hindi cinema, Sanjay Mishra has also acted in movie of other regional languages like Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Telgu and Tamil.

14. Awards and recognitions

In the year 2014, he won the Best Actor Critic’s Choice Award for his role in Ankhon Dekhi (2013). He also won the award for Best actor at the Indian Film Festival Los Angeles for the movie Masaan in 2016.

15. He worked for the movie Jolly LLB at literally no cost as it was a very small role and the shoot was completed within one night.

16. Interests

He is fond of photography and likes to cook as well. His signature dishes are Pepper Chicken and Achari Mutton. He purchases a cylinder in any new place that he goes and prefers to cook on his own.

17. Sanjay Mishra loves listening to Pink Floyd.

Most of the Hindi movie buffs that enjoy watching light hearted comedies such as Golmaal and Dhamaal are familiar with the acting skills of Sanjay Mishra and highly appreciative of the same. However, he impressed everyone with his serious form of acting as well in the movie Masaan. It takes a lot of struggle in a city like Mumbai and the film industry like Bollywood to make a name for yourself. And Sanjay Mishra has done that beautifully and successfully and we hope to see his commendable work continued in the years to come.

Also read: 19 Interesting Things You Didn’t Know About The Man Of Limitless Talent Piyush Mishra