He has brought alive a variety of character roles in films such as Dil Se and Maqbool. He has also let his pen do most of the talking when he wrote dialogues for movies like The Legend Of Bhagat Singh and lyrics for Black Friday and Tashan. But this time, multi-tasker Piyush Mishra is turning music director with Anurag Kashyap’s forthcoming Gulaal.

“Composing music is something that probably comes naturally to me. Although I have learnt sitar for five years earlier in life, it wasn’t something I pursued very seriously,” says Mishra, who is working with Kashyap for the second time after Black Friday. Incidentally, he penned the popular Bandeh track sung by the band Indian Ocean in the movie.

Mishra has also written the lyrics for the songs of Gulaal, sung two of the tracks and acted in the film too.

Mishra’s style is unconventional. He talks about George Bush in a mujra, incorporates a variety of genres across the eight tracks and comes up with an eclectic mix. “I love different kind of sounds, but broadly I would say these compositions are indian in its sound and are a tribute to the music of the 1960s that thrive on melodies and hummable tunes,” feels Mishra.

Given that Gulaal started six years ago, did he have to rework the songs? “We just recorded the music a few months ago but the compositions have remained intact. Bizarre ideas can only be executed if you have an open mind, like Anurag’s. We didn’t look at commercial viability per se,” he says.