76 12 february 2018in the same world, we see a 10-year-old walking for 10 miles to
get a pot full of water. isn’t that a huge imbalance? and how do
we fix it?” he asks.
Twenty-seven years ago, when Mishra came to Mumbai
in search of work, these were not questions he could afford to
ask. The question was of basic survival and getting work on an
everyday basis. “i came from a home where we’d eat boiled rice
for lunch, and serve polished rice only when there was a guest.
Today, people eat the same boiled red rice and call it ‘organic’
and ‘healthy,’” he says with a laugh.
Like many of his contemporaries, he did everything from
teaching music to writing poetry to keep himself busy. But
the struggles slowly paid off. “When Bunty aur Babli (2005)
released, i remember i was going from delhi to dehradun with
my father and uncle and we stopped at a toll booth. The guy
there smiled at me and said ‘Inse ticket nahin lenge’ (We won’t
charge him). it was the first time my father had an expression
of approval on his face for the work i do. But it was also when i
realised that i was in a profession where i could create change if
i wanted to,” he adds.
When he wasn’t shooting, he’d often take out time and go
to Chitrakoot town in Madhya Pradesh to clean the ghats. “We
would do this so the pilgrims who came to the ghats wouldn’t
slip and the garbage wouldn’t pile up. it gave me a sense of
purpose in the midst of asking for roles back here in Mumbai. it
kept me in touch with the world we live in and those were the
kind of parts i always wanted to play,” he says.
in his 30 years as an actor, Mishra has of course played many
roles. he was always known for his comic timing, especially
early on in TV shows like Hip Hip Hurray (1999) and Office Office
(2000), but it was much later in rajat Kapoor’s Ankhon Dekhi
(2013) that he came into his own. he was a natural performer,
but by his own admission Ankhon Dekhi broke the façade he
had built for himself.
“The industry is great at stereotyping someone and it takes
a lot of effort to break that label. i was labelled the ‘clown’,
the ‘joker’, the man with great spontaneity, but i was looking
for more and Ankhon Dekhi was that. Jo role tumko zindagi ke
maine sikhaati hai, woh role se kai zyada ban jaata hai (a role that
teaches you the meaning of life, becomes a lot more than just a
role),” he says about Bauji, a character going through his own
existential crisis. “People would come up to me and share how
they were finding it difficult to get their daughters married.
They would tell me how they have been in the same job for 40
years and they have forgotten what it is like to feel happiness.
That’s the kind of impact that film had.”
That is perhaps why he has started leaving Mumbai more of-
ten after that film. “i was getting more work, but i would crave
to cut myself off and go into spaces that are closer to nature,
closer to people with less material wealth. i started feeling more
responsible for the ideas my character put there and the
political opinion i expressed through them,” he says.
in 2017, we saw him in five films, each with a distinct voice.
he was a teacher in Newton.
he was the corrupt, misogynist
VC in Anaarkali of Aarah. Both
films had a strong stance
on subjects like abuse and
casteism. “i’m happy that there
is a whole section of films com-
ing along these days that are
saying something of relevance.
i may play a negative part like
the one in Aarah, but what the
film was trying to highlight
overall was more important,”
says Mishra.
Today he relishes the fact
that he has many roles to
choose from. he knows he
doesn’t have all the answers
to the questions his films
may force him to ask. But he isn’t disturbed by them either. he
is happy to be the kind of actor who feels a social and moral
responsibility towards his audience and the space he lives in.
“The night before last, i was in a village in rajasthan because
i just felt like seeing how they live their lives. Ten days ago,
i was in Jharkhand and i befriended an adivasi family there.
i bought a lot of vegetables, cooked my own food. People
from my production team were confused because i wasn’t
demanding a vanity van or complaining about the heat. it’s
just that i take these opportunities to remind myself where
i really belong,” he says.
he was never the hero of a film, and he never chose to be
one either. “Today when someone says ‘i am here to be a hero’,
i say, ‘hero banne aaye ho, ya actor?’ (do you want to be a hero
or an actor?). i was here to be an actor. even now, i am trying
to become one. even today, i am still searching for myself
as an actor,” he says. ncinema
A still from Kadvi Hawa
I had to
remember that
I was the face
of a man who is
most affected by
climate change,
our farmer. I
had to feel his
helplessness”
Sanjay miShra actor