Famous actor-musician Piyush Mishra and his band Ballimaran held the second show of their latest tour in Phoenix Marketcity in Pune. The band is named after a street in Delhi where the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib lived; his haveli still stands there. Famous film tracks like Aarambh hai Prachand from Gulaal and Ek Bagal me Chand Hoga from Gangs of Wasseypur were obvious audience favourites, but the band’s original compositions were huge hits too. O Hamlet, a Hindi song on Shakespeare ’s idea of Denmark in Hamlet is a fresh and different concept. Husna of Coke Studio fame was requested by many in the crowd, and Mishra obliged. Uth ja Bhau, Mishra claimed, is a parody song written in the 90s, with references to the smoking ban in Delhi, corruption scandals, the election of Nawaz Sharif, and the fall of Imran Khan. Ballimaran’s songs are a social commentary on everything under the sky, except caste (Mishra himself being a Brahmin). Mishra’s songwriting skills are one of the best out there. The incredible rusticity of his songs makes it very easy to mistake them for folk compositions. The show is a very personal affair, with Mishra preceeding every song with personal stories and anecdotes. He describes his journey climbing the ladders of the Hindi film industry and his motivation behind writing every song. The cheeky humour present in all his lyrics is a striking reminder of Ghalib; when a British officer looked at his turban and asked him if he was Muslim, Ghalib replied by saying, “Only half. I drink wine but I don’t eat pork.”
10 Jan 2023
Soham Shah
