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There are many actors in the Hindi film industry who are yet to get their due fully, in terms of more recognition and more work. Sanjay Mishra can be counted as one of them. I know what you are thinking — Mishra has always been around, so clearly people are aware of his brilliance. And apart from a break during the initial years, the versatile Sanjay Mishra has worked in the showbiz almost consistently. People who have collaborated with him acknowledge his talent and comic timing, wanting to work with him again and again; be it a Rohit Shetty, or even Ajay Devgn, who had expressed his admiration for Mishra’s artistry in an interview during Total Dhamaal promotions. Devgn and Mishra will soon be seen together in the former’s directorial, Bholaa.
But even then, Sanjay Mishra gets taken for a bite-sized role, or for a few laughs; even in Shetty’s film, who hires him for nearly every project. However, Mishra has much more to offer than those familiar guffaws you often hear in a Rohit Shetty comedy. He is a fully realised dramatic actor, who only gets to polish that side of himself once in a while, when a director sees him in his full scope. Hardik Mehta’s Kaamyaab, and Ankhon Dekhi (2013) are good examples of Mishra’s more dramatic performances.
In Kaamyaab (2018), Mishra plays the role of a so-called ‘side actor’ Sudheer, who has stopped getting jobs, but would be seen in almost every other movie during his prime. One day, when the retired Sudheer realises he would be able to complete his 500th movie if he acted one last time, he decides to go all out to get a more meaningful part instead of playing the usual stock characters. A sequence from Kaamyaab, which has managed to stay with me these few years is when Sudheer is dreaming of getting a call from a casting director, and in it, he seems himself playing not any ‘side part’ but a supporting character.
Speaking about the scene, Sanjay told indianexpress.com, “We always used to talk about that scene, Hardik (Mehta, the filmmaker) and I. Wo mera pasandeeda scene hai, pura ek din laga tha wo scene shoot hone mein (That is my favourite scene. It was shot in a day’s time). I used to be jealous because Hardik would remember the lines better than me. He has been a very fine director for me, hamara sur bohot milne bhi laga tha (We really began to understand each other better).”
Talk about the tag of a supporting actor, and he brushes the question aside: “Agar cinema wise dekha jaaye to ye saare characters har cinema mein hote the ek time pe, 70s-80s mein, jaise paan wale, pandit. I have never understood the supporting actor tag, ispe toh kya hi bolun, supporting actor, comedic actor, hero jaisa kuch nahi hota. Sab actor hi hote hai, ispe kya kahe (Yes, we used to have these characters and familiar faces who would be seen as a pan-wala in one movie, and as a pandit conducting a wedding in another. But as far as the supporting actor label is concerned, I don’t really get it. There is no such thing as a comedic actor or a hero, everyone is an actor on set, and that’s that).”
And what about superstar and producer Shah Rukh Khan? The two have collaborated in different films and in different capacities over the years. SRK and Sanjay have acted together in films such as Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Oh Darling Yeh Hai India, and then of course, they have their ‘Kaamyaab’ connection too. Shah Rukh’s company Red Chillies Entertainment had co-produced the Sanjay Mishra movie.
“Shah Rukh ke saath jab bhi maine kaam kiya hua hai, wo khud ke liye hi ladd rahe the, ki yes main karke dekhta hu, dikhata hu, wo tha uss samay unka process. Ye main nahi kar pata yaar. Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (1995) thi wo film, main bhi naya tha, Shah Rukh bhi naya tha. Aur phir usne meri film present kar di baad mein (Whenever I have worked with Shah Rukh, he has been fighting for something. To prove something, to experiment, to show that ‘look, this is what we can do with this movie.’ That has been his process, I would have never been able to do it. We had worked together first in Ketan Mehta’s 1995 film Oh Darling Yeh Hai India. We were all new then, and later, he presented my film with Kaamyaab),” the actor said with a hint of nostalgia and fondness in his voice.
Mishra also expressed his happiness about Shah Rukh Khan’s film Pathaan’s success: “Acha laga abhi Pathaan ko ek acha response mila hai, marti hui zindagi se aadmi phir se sapna dekhna shuru karra hai phir se. Usne ye dikhaya ki audience abhi zinda hai (It is nice to see Pathaan doing so well at box office, Shah Rukh has showed us that we can dream again, he has showed that the audience is alive and hungry for more cinema).”
When he is told that he just unintentionally quoted a bit of dialogue from Pathaan, Sanjay Mishra laughs, “Oh really, he said that (Pathaan zinda hai)?” Maybe this is some kind of foreshadowing, maybe we will soon see Sanjay Mishra and Shah Rukh Khan in one frame again.
Kaamyaab is currently streaming on Netflix.
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