Kunal or Basab Mitra was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. He was the grandson of noted Bengali filmmaker Debaki Kumar Bose. Mitra began his career in television with the comedy serial Ebar Jombe Mawja on 1994. He appeared in about 300 shows and serials, and around ten feature films. He achieved success as Janardan Jana in the popular show Raja & Goja: Bindass Moja on the Zee Bangla television channel, where he played a councilor of Ward no. 420 who performed many anti-social activities. His last film was Chhaw-a Chhuti. Mitra died of a heart attack while shooting at Indrapuri Studio, Kolkata for the television serial 'Utsaver Ratri', directed by Jisshu Dasgupta. His distant grandson is Suvranil Singha Chowdhury.
