“Main film star to nahi ban paya rockstar zaroor ban gaya,” Piyush Mishra said this a few times as he sat on stage to introduce his band Ballimaaraan in Delhi before beginning his music tour Udankhatola. The singer, actor and writer was here to talk about his association with the band, his love for music and how at the age of 62 he has now became a rockstar.

“Gulaal, Maqbool karne ke baad bhi mai film star nahi ban paya kyonki mujh par koi paisa lagane ko tayyar nahi hai... Mujhe laga rockstar achhi upadhi hai ye li ja sakti hai. The kind of response I am getting from my concerts I feel agar mai khud ko rockstar kahunga to mujhe sharam nahi aayegi. I am enjoying this, I may be exhausted when I go on stage, but when I perform and if the show goes well, I am transported to other world. I feel like I have done something. Acting mein apna dum laga do uske bavjood woh response nahi milta hai, haan theater mein milta hai,” he said.

Piyush told the gathering that he started writing in his childhood and feels that this is something that comes naturally to him. He said, “I think I am blessed that I can act, write. I wrote Sharam Kar Lo (poem) when I was in class eight. Ye ho gaya, maloom nahi kaise ho gaya. I used to write, sing, paint, ye sab ho jaya karta tha. There was some force guiding me, I think I am a gifted person.”

“When I joined NSD I was a kid, but I became a youngster in NSD. When I moved to Mumbai, then Gulaal happened, Maqbool happened, Maqbool se mujhe itna faayda nahi mila jitna mujhe milna chahiye tha. Gulaal was a flop but was a hit on Internet. Then Gangs Of Wasseypur happened and I earned some money. I am 62 now, I only take work that I like.”

Piyush shared, “I miss Mandi House a lot. Jab mai Dilli mai tha, Mandi House ke bahar jhaank ke nahi dekha. Mandi House mein toh meri jaan basti hai. Wahan ka ek bhi kona aisa nahi hai jahan maine rehearsal nahi ki ho. Mere samne kai generations nikli hain, Tigmanshu Dhulia ki generation, Adil Husaain ki, Nawazuddin ki, Pankaj Tripathi ki aur Zeeshan Ayyub ki generation. In sabko apni aankhon se dekhna aur mai ab bhi kaam kar raha hoon, ye bahut badi baat hai.”

Going through the display reminded him of the “good old days.” One of the highlights of the exhibition was the red cycle.

“I don’t know how they (his bandmates) got it here. There is a brief story about this. On August 8, 1985 I did a play which was directed by the same person who directed the Hamlet, Fritz Bennewitz. Naseeruddin Shah came to watch the play, woh to khuda the uss waqt hamare liye. Naseer liked the play, he hugged me aur main toh bilkul hi pagal ho gaya tha. To celebrate that I decided to go to Badkhal lake in Faridabad on my brother’s bicycle. There was a milestone that read Gwalior 320 kms, I thought let’s go to Gwalior. I reached there in two and half days aur haalat kharab ho gayi thi. Ye cycle us lambi yatra ki gawah hai,” he shared.