‘No play’ for Piyush Mishra
He graduated from India’s foremost theatre training institution, the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, and proved his mettle in the field for two decades straight. Actor, writer, lyricist and composer Piyush Mishra, who shifted base to Mumbai 13 years ago, says when he left theatre for movies, it was for good.
He says when people shift to Mumbai to pursue a career in showbiz, their focus is cinema, not plays. “Going to Mumbai means you want to do cinema and be a part of that... People who don’t get work in cinema, go for plays, barring a few such as Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal. Plays are an integral part of their lives,” says Piyush.
Would he ever get back to theatre now, so the younger generation also gets to watch the critically acclaimed actor perform live?
“I won’t be doing any plays now. It has been 10 years since I last did a play. I used to work a lot on plays earlier, but now I don’t. I have done enough of them, but not now. Since the time I shifted to Mumbai, I’ve stopped working in plays.”
Not just as an actor, Piyush has also used his creativity to pen dialogues and scripts for films like The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Ghajini and Chittagong. On what basis does he select the projects he wants to write for?
“If I have to write a script, I need to be able to relate to the subject somewhere. It should be attached to my life at some point in some way. It should match with the ups and downs of my life. Then only can you write,” he concludes.