- Piyush Mishra described alcoholism as a deadly disease without a medical cure
- He never acted drunk on set despite struggling with alcohol cravings
- Alcohol led to hurtful behaviour, including harsh words to his mother
Veteran star Piyush Mishra has never shied away from opening up about his personal and professional struggles. He recently reflected on how alcoholism impacted his life.
“Alcoholism is a deadly disease, and even an alcoholic doesn't realise that they are one. Even medical science has no cure for alcoholism. There comes a time when, whether you want to or not, you need alcohol, your body craves it. I have felt this myself," he said on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast.
Piyush Mishra On His Hurtful Behaviour Due To Alcoholism
The Maqbool actor revealed that he “never acted after drinking, nor have I ever gone to a set drunk”. Elaborating on how alcohol affected his mind, he continued, “While singing Husna, I had an alcoholic mind; while working on Gulaal, I had an alcoholic mind—but I did not consume alcohol at that time. I used to drink because of physical craving, and you cannot suppress that craving.”
He also admitted to his hurtful behaviour towards others due to the addiction. “After drinking, I did many things that later made me feel, ‘This is not me',” he shared. Reflecting on the issues he created with his mother while drunk, Piyush said, “I said many harsh things to her.”
The 63-year-old continued, “I made many inappropriate and obscene phone calls to women, and the next morning I wouldn't even remember them. Later, when I mentioned it, they would say, ‘Sir, you said this on the phone last night-such vulgar things.' I would say, ‘I couldn't have said that,' but they insisted that I did. At that time, I was not in control of myself. I was doing things I didn't want to do—things I believed I could never do in a sane state of mind.”
“Professionally, people were scared of me because I would behave in such ways. It started affecting my work. People began saying that I am very difficult to work with, and that perception still exists—that I am temperamental and hard to work with,” he shared.
The Turning Point
In 2009, Piyush Mishra suffered a brain stroke, affecting his right side. This is when he began practising Vipassana to control his cravings.
“I had become an anti-social person. My work saved me. Otherwise, the things I have done… people would have killed me. Considering the kind of behaviour I had displayed, people would have beaten me to death,” he said.
