Piyush Mishra

Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra during Hindi poetry
Born	Priyakansha Sharma (1963-01-13) 13 January 1963 (age 54) Gwalior, India
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, lyricist, singer, music director
Years active	1986–present

Piyush Mishra (born 13 January 1963) is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter. Mishra grew up in Gwalior, and went to graduate from National School of Drama, Delhi in 1986. Thereafter, he started his career in Hindi theatre in Delhi. Over the next decade, he established himself as a theatre director, actor, lyricist and singer. He shifted to Mumbai in 2002, actor, lyricist and screenwriter, and receiving acclaim for his acting in Maqbool (2003) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).

As a film lyricist and singer, he is noted for his songs "Arre Ruk Ja Re Bandeh" (Black Friday, 2004), "Aarambh Hai Prachand" (Gulaal, 2009), "Ik Bagal" (Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2, 2012), and "Husna" (MTV Coke Studio, 2012).

He was born in Gwalior to Pratap Kumar Sharma. He grew up as Priyakansha Sharma and was adopted by his father's eldest sister Taradevi Mishra, who had no children. His family, too, moved into his aunt's house to ease financial burden. His parents admitted him to Carmel Convent School, Gwalior thinking that his education in a convent will help him excel in academics but it was activities like singing, painting and acting which appealed to him. Piyush later moved to Gwalior's JC Mills Higher Secondary School. However, living in the authoritative household of his aunt, developed a rebellious streak in him, which showed up in his first poem, Zinda ho haan tum koi shak nahin (Yes you are alive; of this there is no doubt), he wrote in class 8th. Later, while studying in class 10, he even filed an affidavit in the district court and changed his name to one his choice to Piyush Mishra.

Around this time, he began to be drawn to theatre – it was at places like Kala Mandir and Rangshri Little Ballet Troupe in Gwalior that his talent for the medium was first identified. In spite of the appreciation he was beginning to receive in the theatre circles, his family kept insisting to concentrate on his studies. He took the entrance test to the National School of Drama, New Delhi in 1983, not with any particular desire to study but to get out of Gwalior. Thereafter he moved to Delhi, and joined National School of Drama, graduating in 1986. While at NSD, he got a chance to compose his first music score for a student play, Mashreeki Hoor. His acting breakthrough came in his second year at NSD, when German director, Fritz Bennewitz (1926–95), directed him in the title role in Hamlet and introduced him to acting technique.