I am not a star, but a rockstar: Actor Piyush Mishra

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) If you have watched him from his days in the Capital where he was theatre’s superstar and his solo acts ‘An Evening with Piyush Mishra’ were the talk of the town, to now, a play could be written on his dramatic persona change.

Unlike the past, when many were scared even to talk to him to save themselves from his arrogance and burning gaze; actor, lyricist and singer Piyush Mishra has not only become calmer and serene, but also a giver — the way he encourages young theatre makers, guiding them to be passionate about the craft but also think of financially sustaining themselves, telling them that arrogance will only harm them, just like how it treated him.

“The Delhi days were not just about passionate theatre, but arrogance, self-indulgence and alcoholism…Everybody was supposed to admire my brilliance — all the time. For me, nothing existed beyond me. I remember leaving for rehearsals early in the morning and coming home at midnight — drunk. You know, my wife Priya deserves an award for keeping everything together,” Piyush, originally from Gwalior, who joined NSD in 1983 told IANS.

While his first stint in Mumbai, where he was part of Mani Ratnam’s ‘Dil Se’ left him completely broken, it was the second one after he shifted base to that city post the age of 40 that the actor felt settled — both personally and professionally.

“By now I was a more open person ready to absorb what life offered me. The arrogance had been left behind and I had a brush with spirituality. I may not be a star, but a rockstar – definitely,” smiles Piyush, who received much acclaim for his acting in ’Maqbool’, ’Gangs of Wasseypur’ (both parts), ‘Gulaal’, and ‘Rockstar’.

Known for his lyrics from theatre days, the actor wrote them for movies like ‘Black Friday’, Gulaal’, and also some tracks in ‘Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!’, ‘Aaja Nachle’, ‘Tashan’, ‘Chal Chalein’, ‘Lahore’, and ‘Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid,’ among others, when asked how he looked back at his never-ending struggling days in Delhi, Piyush remembers, “I learnt a lot. My total commitment to acting and fine-tuning my craft made things easier for me during my second stint in Mumbai. Of course, there are a lot of regrets. When I was in Delhi, I would see my contemporaries rise in Mumbai, that did lead to much frustration…”

In Chandigarh, on a private visit Piyush also addressed young theatre practitioners at the Tagore Theatre.

The actor, who recently wrote his memoir ‘Tumhari Auqat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra’ advised them to follow their passion with complete commitment.

“During our days, parents would frown if you adopted this profession. That is not the case now. Also, do not let small setbacks discourage you. Manoj Bajpayee could not get admission at NSD, but did that stop him from being a brilliant actor? And do not think of ‘reaching’ somewhere. Just work consistently, and focus on that. Also, it is important that you are financially independent.”

Talk to him about his band ‘Ballimaaraan’, which blurs the lines between genres and eras, crafting a distinctive tapestry and has managed to carve out a niche of its own, and he stresses, “I do this because I enjoy it. It serves my passion for poetry and music. Sometimes even I am surprised to see young audience members enjoying songs that were written decades back during my early theatre days,” he said about the band that recently undertook a multi-city tour in the US.

Even as ‘method acting’ seems to be the newly learnt term by many in the Hindi film industry, Piyush laments, “This irritates me no end. I have always stressed on instinctive acting, where the reaction is the key. In fact, during our days at the NSD, Irrfan Khan and I would get into long arguments about this. He would often say that I would not have anything to ‘fall back on’. However, during the shoot of ‘Maqbool’, we were comfortable together in a frame and understood – ‘to each his own’.”

“Every actor needs to develop his method. And it is not that I have not thoroughly read Stanislavski, who developed the Method system of acting,” concludes Piyush, who composed his first poem in grade 8.

–IANS

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