Success is always sweet and for most singers, composers and musicians, getting on the Billboard Charts is the most coveted taste. Only a few manage to achieve this and when it comes to Arko Pravo Mukherjee, the fruit dropped right into his lap.
Having dabbled in Bollywood, the singer-songwriter and composer from Kolkata, recently released ‘Reeva’, an infectious dance music number that thrived in the US party circuit becoming No. 1 Break Out Song in the Billboard Dance Club 50 Charts and moving up in the Billboard Dance 50 Charts as well.
On hitting the charts, Arko says it wasn’t something he had planned at all. “I wasn’t really expecting it. We had just released it a few months back and DJs were playing it in the US. When it actually entered Billboard as a dance track, it was a pleasant surprise.”
A classical and urban folk artiste at heart, Arko experiments with a gamut of soundscapes from various countries and collaborating with several artistes, apart from being a playback singer.
What inspired the idea for ‘Reeva’? The composer says he had a catalogue of English songs that he’s been composing over the years. “Apart from that, I’ve always wanted to try this model of going totally independent with no record label and no studio. All the publishing rights for the song too are with me. In dance music, if it works and DJs like it, they’ll play it all over. But in love songs, you would have to put it on TV and radio for people to listen. Ideally I wanted to see how the whole system works. So I picked a song that is the simplest, melodic and easy to groove to.”
Arko points out that his first concern was if people will accept the accent. “I worried if I sounded like an Indian singer singing an English song. But the feedback I got, people couldn’t figure out where the voice was from. That worked in my favour I guess and the song’s popularity spread. It’s a very simple, casual song and is something that connects with everyone at clubs. It is not deep or philosophical and doesn’t have any message in it. I’m happy that it’s accepted and people are giving it a listen.”
Looking back, the accomplished musician says the changing point of his life was obviously when Mahesh Bhatt launched him in Bollywood with Jism 2 . “I’m from Kolkata and from a completely non-musical background. We’re an academic family and my parents looked at Bollywood very differently. I actually studied medicine before opting to take up music fulltime. After getting that chance, there’s no turning back and no problem with getting work. My parents were also convinced that music was working for me after that.” Arko went on to work with Karan Johar in Kapoor And Sons , Rustom and other movies apart from teaming up with music producers in the field.
Arko affirms that from childhood, he was enamoured with the idea of a singer-songwriter. “Initially it was the whole rockstar craze and as I grew older, I realised I needed a mature goal. I owe everything to Bollywood, but films have a lot of involvement from everyone else. In independent music, you have complete control over expressing anything you want. That absolute freedom is what I’m aiming for now. There will be albums and singles but what I’m interested in most is making music I can call completely my own and writing about everything I like.”
