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While acting and theatre are a big part of Piyush’s career, another art form also has special meaning for him: Music. He began penning lyrics during his NSD days, but with his induction into Bollywood, Mishra’s brand of music found a new grounding and an authentic fanbase. And it was only a matter of time before his music would come to be known through his band.
 
Ballimaaraan is the brainchild of Nishant Agarwal, whom Mishra met in Chandigarh in 2015. A fan of Piyush’s music, Agarwal insisted on forming a band with him and even followed the actor to Delhi. “I was at IIT, Delhi, for a show when I met Nishant again. I tried to reason with him that there was no point in coming for this to [my home in] Mumbai, but he was pretty convinced and came anyway,” he recounts.
 
Nevertheless, Piyush discussed the idea with his manager, Rahul Gandhi, and music composer Hitesh Sonik, whom the songwriter credits for his microphone singing. Both of them encouraged him to pursue it. And as fate would have it, Ballimaaraan was formed in 2016 with Piyush, Nishant Agarwal and Rahul Gandhi in tow. Since then, the band has come to be a phenomenon.
 
“The band grew at its own pace. In particular, it was all of Nishant’s efforts that helped the band grow. The addition of Shirish [Malhotra] is splendid, for how uniquely he rearranged the songs, giving new dimensions to the quality of the band,” he adds.
 
Today, Ballimaaraan is an eight-member band, with the addition of Shirish Malhotra on saxophone and flute, Shreyas Iyengar on drums, Natasha Pinto on keys, Shovon Mukherjee on bass guitar, percussionist Varun Gupta, light director Rahul Joglekar, and sound engineer Akshat Taneja. The backbone of the band remains its manager and backing vocalist, Rahul Gandhi.
 
Songs such as “Aarambh Hai Prachand,” “Husna,” “Ghar,” “Ik Bagal Mein Chand Hoga,” “Duniya” and “Shehar” have struck a chord with youth for their fusion of traditional and contemporary music, soul-stirring themes, enthralling rhythm and thought-provoking lyrics. Many of the songs have become the stuff of cult fandom over time.
 
What’s more, the songs evoke a sense of lively and sincere dialogue. They have a specific expression and depth of meaning that simultaneously makes people laugh, dance, and reflect. Most of these songs have a message, or an element of satire, in them. Above all, the band is conscious of the need for their songs to have magnificent melodies, and not just be vehicles for a message.
 
Prod him into delving into what led him to start the band, besides Agarwal’s insistence, and he states: “For me, it was more about, ‘let’s do it and see what comes out of it [than anything else].”  He recalls how he cancelled the band’s first show altogether! “The first show was in Bhopal. It was on the same day as the premiere of the movie Pink. I was so terrified that I cancelled it. I made an excuse about my throat being a mess. The second show was in Gurgaon, for which we practised a lot, and I did go on stage. To my surprise, the response was astonishing. From there, the performances never stopped. In the end, it was all about overcoming fear,” he chuckles.