A stage actor for around 20 years, Kumud Mishra's film career took off when he was cast by Imtiaz Ali for his film Rockstar (2011). Since then, by fitting into various shades of impressive characters, Mishra has become one of the more sought after actors for pivotal supporting characters in Hindi films. Mishra was introduced to theatre when he was in the military school at Belgaum in Karnataka. While studying for his bachelor's degree in economics and politcal science in Bhopal, he began working in different productions under directors such as Alok Nandan, Bansi Kaul, John Martin, Alok Chatterjee, Sachin Tiwari and Irfan Saurabh. He also participated in the Festival of India in the USSR in 1989. In 1990-91, he joined the National School of Drama and graduated with a diploma in acting. He was supposed to get the lead role in Shyam Benegal's The Making Of The Mahatma (1996) but lost out to Rajit Kapoor. In 1994, he moved to Bombay and since then has been associated with Prithvi Theatres, working with eminent directors like Satyadev Dubey, Ramu Ramanathan and Manav Kaul.

Before Rockstar, Kumud Mishra had appeared in a number of films – Sardari Begum (1996), 1971 (2007), That Girl In Yellow Boots (2010), Patiala House (2011). However, the crucial character of 'Khatana' in Rockstar got recognition. The transformation in the character of Mehmood in Filmistaan (2012) by Nitin Kakkar brought out more shades of his acting capabilities. He appeared in the film Hansa the same year and also played the father of the female protagonist in Anand L Rai's Raanjhanaa (2013) to perfection. In the following years, he appeared in Revolver Rani (2014), Lekar Hum Diwana Dil (2014), Badlapur (2015) and Bangistan (2015).

In 2016, he was successful in portraying a spectrum of roles – Sanjeev Kohli, the government official who was instrumental in getting Indians back from Kuwait in Raja Krishna Menon's Airlift, the encouraging father of Aarfa (Anushka Sharma) in Ali Abbas Zafar's Sultan, the Parsi editor in Rustom by Tinu Suresh Desai, and Deval in Neeraj Pandey's MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.