Piyush Mishra (born Priyakant Sharma; 13 January 1963) is an Indian actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, musician and screenwriter. He began his career in Hindi theatre in Delhi during the late 1980s and 1990s, before moving to Mumbai in 2002, where he became known for his work in Hindi cinema as both a character actor and a songwriter.
| Born | 13 January 1963 (as Priyakant Sharma) |
|---|---|
| Raised in | Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh |
| Education | National School of Drama, Delhi (graduated 1986) |
| Occupations | Actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, musician, screenwriter |
| Active in | Hindi theatre and Hindi cinema |
| Based in | Mumbai (since 2002) |
Mishra grew up in Gwalior. He moved to Delhi to study at the National School of Drama (NSD), from which he graduated in 1986. NSD shaped his early grounding in acting, direction and stagecraft, which carried into his subsequent theatre and screen work.
After graduating, Mishra began working in Hindi theatre in Delhi. Over the following decade and more, he established a reputation as a theatre director, actor, lyricist and singer, contributing to the writing and music of stage productions in addition to performing in them.
In 2002, Mishra relocated to Mumbai to work in the Hindi film industry. He received critical acclaim for his acting in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool (2003) and in Anurag Kashyap's two-part crime saga Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).
Mishra's career spans theatre and cinema, and within cinema he is unusual in working simultaneously as an actor, lyricist and singer. His association with directors such as Vishal Bhardwaj and Anurag Kashyap, and his lyric and vocal contributions to films like Black Friday, Gulaal and Gangs of Wasseypur, mark him as a recognisable creative voice in independent and parallel-leaning Hindi cinema of the 2000s and 2010s.