Piyush Mishra, Rahul Gandhi on their upcoming music tour Udankhatola; share details about Ballimaaraan band | Exclusive

Piyush Mishra is one of the most versatile artists in India. He is an actor, singer, musician, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter. He is set to embark on an international tour, curated by the founder & CEO of Tamboo Entertainment Rahul Gandhi, titled Udankhatola with his music band Ballimaaran. Before he kicks off his tour this week, Piyush Mishra and Rahul Gandhi talked about Udankhatola in detail in a freewheeling conversation with DNA.

Piyush Mishra's band is called Ballimaaraan - The Piyush Mishra Project. It takes its name from the lane in Delhi where Mirza Ghalib once lived. Talking more about his band, the Gangs of Wasseypur actor said, "This band started in 2016 with just three people and now, we are nine people on stage and a total of fourteen people tour across several cities. It is a unique band in itself because it's a lyrics oriented band. Not just in India, I haven't such a band across the world. The people we have in the band they understand music and lyrics. And we compose our songs together so that we can evolve together. It's not just my band, we all work on its songs together. Everyone has almost an equal contribution in all the songs."

Ballimaaraan - The Piyush Mishra Project enjoys a loyal fan following due to Mishra’s soul-stirring lyrics, the band's distinct music, and the inherent satirical edge, found in their songs like Aarambh, Husna, and Ghar. The singer-actor also shared how does he feel to be called a rockstar in his 60s, "This is just the love of the audiences. I had said in a concert once that I couldn't be a film star, but you guys have made me a rockstar. Since then, the tag has been associated with me. Actually, I don't consider myself a star. I just sing and act, and don't stick to one thing in life. I like to keep moving on."

When asked why was the name Udankhatola chosen for their upcoming tour, Rahul told us, "The thought behind the name was the fact that Piyush Mishra, at his age of 62, is regularly going out of his comfort zone to explore different forms of art. For me, Udankhatola is that hovering mind of Piyush Mishra. His insatiable thirst for exploration and constant endeavour to experiment with his craft. We wanted to take his message to the deeper parts of country and we thought this could be done through the Udankhatola yantra, and hence, chose the name."

The Udankhatola tour, which will span over 15 cities across India, will begin on November 9 in Kolkata and then travel to cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Bhopal, Pune, Thane, Raipur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kanpur among others. Later, the tour will also expand to three more countries, including Canada, the US, and the UK. The Udankhatola tour is curated by Tamboo Entertainment and produced jointly with Thinking Hats.

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