Piyush Mishra in a demonstration. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

It started with a love for theatre, when Piyush Mishra was in school in Gwalior. He recalls, “I thought it was the best profession, because people clapped for you and laughed or cried whenever you wanted.” Over the years, he ventured into other fields like film, singing, composing and song-writing.

Piyush’s latest project includes a 15-city tour with his band Ballimaaran in a series titled Udankhatola. Starting from November 9, it will continue till early March 2025, covering Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Bhopal, Pune, Thane, Raipur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kanpur. The series is produced by Tamboo and Thinking Hats, and plans to tour three countries next year, in addition to a few more Indian cities.

“While I am writing some new songs and releasing an album, the tour will include all my popular songs such as ‘Aarambh’, ‘Husna’, ‘Ghar’ and ‘Ik Bagal’. It will have a mix of retro and modern influences. One of our objectives is to promote the richness of our literature,” says Piyush.

Ballimaaran was conceived in 2016 when guitarist Nishant Agarwal saw Piyush perform in Chandigarh. “He followed me from there to Delhi till my doorstep in Mumbai. His idea was that we should perform our songs with a band. We started as a band when percussionist Jayant Patnaik joined us. When Rahul Gandhi of Tambu started managing us, it took a different shape,” says the singer. Gradually more musicians joined him. He says, “Shirish Malhotra joined on saxophone, flute and shehnai. Yohan played bass, Natasha Pinto played keys, Varun played percussion, Shreyas played drums. Then we worked on lighting, sound and continued developing the band.”

Drawn to theater as a young boy, his first role was Arabian Nights Character Abu Hassan. While in college, he enrolled in the National School of Drama, Delhi. He became popular by playing Hamlet.

Piyush wrote a play after graduation play Gagan DamamaBased on the life of Bhagat Singh. He began getting roles in films, starting with Mani Ratnam’s from the heart (1998) and then acted in Vishal Bhardwaj’s film Maqbool (2003). After this he wrote songs for Anurag Kashyap black Friday (2004), which featured music by Indian Ocean. The songs ‘Bande’ and ‘Bharam Bhap Ke’ became popular.

In Anurag Kashyap’s 2009 film gulalPiyush composed the music, wrote all the lyrics and sang the songs ‘Aarambh’ and ‘Duniya’ besides playing the role of Prithvi Bana. “But the role that got me noticed as an actor was Anurag’s Gangs of Wasseypur In 2012,” he says.

Piyush’s appearance in Coke Studio (India) gave him more exposure. “Films, songs and theater hold equal importance in my life. And would like to maintain this balance.”

Even after the Udankhatola tour begins, Piyush has ensured that his shooting schedule will not be affected. “Concerts are on weekends, so I have a lot of time for other activities,” he says.