Actor, writer and music composer, Piyush Mishra tasted success after the satire song Aarambh Hai Prachand from Gulaal (2009) gained popularity. It eventually became a youth anthem for protests.
His songs which are political in tone are often filled with humour and a touch of sadness. His songs carry a distinctive raconteur’s charge that was honed during his days at the National School of Drama, where he involved himself as an actor, writer and director. His passion brought him to Mumbai only to brave enormous hardships and multiple failures.
From a rebellious son who dropped out of college to join NSD, to being sexually abused by a relative as a teenager, to falling in love with a teacher to struggling to find answers to human existence, and to the struggles in Mumbai before getting recognition, the actor recounts his 60 plus life in his autobiographical novel Tumhari Auqaat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra.
Narrated through the character of Santap Trivedi, or Hamlet, as he was known in NSD after he played Shakespeare’s famous protagonist, Mishra is brutally honest in narrating his life in pages. “There’s nothing to hide. I remember everything since my childhood. Everything is etched in my mind. If you are aware and conscious, you remember everything,” says Mishra.
He wrote the book during the the COVID-19 lockdown. “Everyone was saying there was no work but I was so busy writing my book. I enjoyed that process because I always wanted to share the real me with people who regard me so highly,” he says.
Success came to Mishra after numerous hardships, Mishra narrates everything without filter — though, he says he kept a few identities anonymous.
Interestingly, the book is a result of Mishra’s ever-growing fan-following among young theatre students and aspirants. “They have started viewing me as the god. They think I am flawless and someone great. I want to tell them that I have so many flaws and have lived a rebellious and flawed life so I am just a human who had all the imperfections while growing up,” Mishra confesses.
From grappling with alcoholism to anger issues and infidelity, Mishra opens up on several crucial and disturbing moments in his life. These, he says, have shaped him as an actor, singer and lyricist — more importantly as a human.
“It’s life and every event teaches you. I have grown up in a family where my father was not in a position to take his stand. Still, he supported my decisions. My mother was very kind; she only did her duties as a woman and never got any rights. I had a few good friends who would help me introspect upon my reactions to certain things. Every event in my life has helped me evolve as a person and then as a performer,” says the actor.
In the book, he also recounts his association with many women in different phases of his life and how those women have taught him to look at life differently. “Some of them are still in touch. I lost some of my friends but all the relations with women were beautiful. There is an immense respect for each one of them,” he confesses.
Apart from penning an interesting account of his failures and success, Mishra writes a beautiful preface to the book. It is crisp, honest and relatable even if you read him for the first time.
Just like his songs, the changing political, social and personal surroundings and attitudes in India and the world frequently show up in Mishra’s autobiography. The book makes for a relaxing weekend read, especially for NSD graduates for nostalgia’s sake.
