The Enigma That is Piyush Mishra - Being Indian

At 61, actor, singer, songwriter, playwright, writer and composer Piyush Mishra—a true artist at heart—doesn't appreciate being confined to one mould. “There is nothing at this point in my life and career that I don’t want to do,” declares Mishra to Being Indian. As a matter of fact, he has a film set for release this month, Vipul Mehta’s Kanjoos Makkhichoos, and his autobiographical novel, Tumhari Auqat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra, is already on the stands. Not to mention “Aarambh,” his year-long tour of India with his band, Ballimaaraan, which has so far stopped in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Indore.

“Now, I want to do all those things that I have not done before. I haven’t done film direction, so that is something on my mind. I don’t want to be called a novelist; I am a one-time novelist. I am not a musician; I have made just one. Similarly, I started with acting, which I enjoy the most, and now it’s a source of income,” he states, adding, “acting is my occupation; the rest is my passion.”

The Making of the Actor

It wasn't an easy road for Piyush to become an actor. He describes his journey from his home in Gwalior to the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi in the 1980s as one set under the worst of circumstances.

The Gulaal actor recalls, “I didn’t have a decent childhood; it was never easy for me. It was filled with ups and downs. The profession of acting was looked down upon by my family, and they weren’t even aware of the word ‘art.’ There were huge disagreements and fights, but I was clear on what I wanted to do. So I continued despite all the opposition and difficulties.”

Today, he has over 30 plays and 40 movies under his belt. Recalling his NSD days, Piyush has one person in particular to whom he wants to express gratitude. “My mentor, German director Fritz Bennewitz,” he says, pointing toward the photo on the wall in his study. “He was my teacher at NSD, and we met in my second year when he cast me in Hamlet. He was the one who opened me up as an actor. Until then, I wasn’t even close to being an actor. I did two more major plays with him, Nekrassov and Man Equals Man, which made me a star at NSD.”

However, a new set of obstacles awaited when he went to Mumbai. His predecessor at NSD, Naseeruddin Shah, called him in for a play. But Mishra got cold feet and couldn’t go through with it. For a theatre actor who was accustomed to larger-than-life plays, the struggle of starting from scratch in Mumbai was too much.

“In Mumbai at that time, there were no theatre groups, and neither was I part of any repertory company. And having gotten a taste of performing in huge plays, nothing seemed right in Mumbai. Disheartened, I went back to Delhi and brought alcoholism with me,” he recalls.
 
Back in Delhi, he joined the Act One Theatre Group, with whom he wrote and directed several plays, including the acclaimed Gagan Damama Bajyo, based on the life of revolutionary Bhagat Singh. “While working with Act One, I put into execution whatever I had learned at NSD. From there onwards, my actual journey of acting began,” adds the Shaukeens actor.
 
It was working on movies like The Playback Singer and Revolver Rani that gave him artistic satisfaction as an actor. Speaking to Being Indian, he recalls, looking at the awards above his bookshelves: “With Playback Singer, I was the only Indian actor among the Americans. I had to speak in English, which in itself was overwhelming. Unfortunately, the film didn’t release in India, but I figured that language wasn't the barrier; it is all about emoting. If you know how to emote, you know how to act. If you know how to cry and laugh, it means you know how to act. I even won the Best Actor award for that film.”
 
Piyush injected everything he knew of acting into Revolver Rani. “But the film didn’t work. Whatever research I was doing on acting, I applied to these roles, especially in Revolver Rani, and the result that I got out of it was blissful,” he adds.
 
Another gratifying experience was working with director Imtiaz Ali on Rockstar and Tamasha. While he looks forward to working with Rajkumar Hirani sometime in the future, Piyush holds a special place for Anurag Kashyap. “I’ll work with Anurag whenever he asks me to. Be it good or bad, it doesn't matter. I’ll do it.”
 
As far as OTT platforms in India are concerned, he is pleased with the content they are generating and sees that as a golden opportunity for writers, and especially actors, who otherwise get rejected from the big screen. “For these young directors and actors, in particular, I have a soft spot. They have a brilliant presence of mind. I always look forward to working with them,” he says smiling.

The Musical Voyage
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.

Birth of a writer
With a career spanning over three decades, Piyush didn’t merely remain “an actor from NSD,” but came to be known in his own right. This placement on a pedestal prompted him to write the autobiographical book Tumhari Auqat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra, an experience he describes as cathartic. “The problem started with newer generations seeing me as some magnificent entity. I wanted to show them that what they see is not entirely me, and show them other aspects,” says Piyush, who was never fascinated with the idea of writing anything about himself.

 “I started off writing it as an autobiography, but I didn't enjoy it. Hence, I gave it the shape of a novel, which straightened out many things. On second thought, the idea was to just say whatever I had to. Because if not now, then when? It had been a while, and it was time for people to know the real Piyush Mishra. It was important. So I penned everything about my life, unfiltered. I feel content after writing this. As if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he says, adding, “in fact, now I find it difficult to give interviews because all I had to say is [already] in this book!” 

He started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people were sleeping and cooking, I started writing, utilizing the time off to finish the book. All the chapters were painful. The happy part comes toward the end, when I have solved myself, so to speak,” beams the author.
 
So, does he consider his journey from Gwalior to Delhi to Mumbai an inspiration for upcoming artists? Mishra quickly rejects any such insinuation with a wave of his hand. “That I don’t know. I won't even project myself to be one. It is up to people,” he concludes.

Box Item:
Piyush has revealed that he is working on reviving his play Gagan Damama Bajyo again. “Jitna use karnay ki hasrat the utni puri nahi hue. We will take this play to the whole country,” he declares. At the same time, he also makes it clear that he won’t be acting in it this time. “Ab utni himmat nahi stage pe acting karne ki. Ek daar baith gaya hai ummar kay sath,” he says.

Caption for the band picture: (L-R)
Shirish Malhotra, Natasha Pinto, Shreyas Iyengar, Rahul Gandhi, Piyush Mishra, Nishant Agarwal, Varun Gupta, Shovon Mukherjee

Caption for the band picture

He started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people were sleeping and cooking, I started writing, utilizing the time off to finish the book. All the chapters were painful. The happy part comes toward the end, when I have solved myself, so to speak,” beams the author. He started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people wHe started writing his novel in 2015, but at one point threw it in the trash. “I was devastated. I had the whole Gwalior chapter written. I cried a lot that day. But during the pandemic, I completed the novel. When people w