NEW DELHI - Bollywood lyrics are becoming more gut-wrenching - picking up themes from contemporary realities, say musicians Piyush Mishra, Swanand Kirkire and Rahul Ram.

“I think Bollywood lyrics has changed over the years. The events that are happening around are creeping into Bollywood playback music. It’s more earthy now,” said Swanand, who is working on R. Balkikrishnan’s “Pa”, which stars Amitabh Bachchan.

“Do you really think its changing - don’t they compose the same songs all the time,” laughed Piyush, who is just back from the US and plans to take it easy for the next few months because of ill-health.

“I compose songs and write whenever and wherever I feel like - even on the streets. They are real,” Piyush said a little later.

The trio jammed at the India Habitat Centre on the World Environment Day June 5 during the Yamunotsav, a two-day green festival supported by Oxfam and the American Center.

The numbers they sang were mostly from “Gulal”, a movie about contemporary India by Anurag Kashyap. They scored music for the film.

The numbers were dark, poetic, rugged, laced heavily with classical notes, speaking of death, destruction and urban angst - and essentially Indian that Kirkire described as the new face of Bollywood music.

The story of “Gulal”, which also stars Piyush, is woven around the song “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai” from the movie “Pyasa” by poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhyanvi.

Recalling the making of the hard-hitting song “Ruk ja re bande…” from “Black Friday” in 2004, Rahul Ram said Piyush wrote it outside their studio in Karol Bagh.

“Piyush just wrote the first line and it was approved by Anurag Kashyap,” said Rahul, who is compiling material on “English words” used in Bollywood songs.