For singer, songwriter, music composer Arko Pravo Mukherjee, love songs are essentially feminine. “Nazm Nazm is very special to me. It is the only song with no changes – neither from the director nor the label. Wherever I go, especially women, love the song. Men, too but because women are softer and gentler...these love songs are essentially feminine, unless there are alpha sentiments like ‘Mujhe Tu Chahiye, Haq Hai Mera’,” says the Saathi Rey singer, who was recently in the city.

In Delhi for an album launch, Arko speaks to us about his faith in his art and how the number game doesn’t matter to him. Elaborating on the femininity of love songs, Arko adds, “Art itself is feminine. Science is masculine. Science is like yeh maine discover kiya. Art doesn’t have that. It is not something that belongs to the author or the singer completely,” he says.

“I’ve done many singles, but they haven’t done as well as my film songs like Nazm Nazm. If a layman knows a song, then you know that it has worked; I’ve been much luckier with film songs,” says Arko

Talking about the song Teri Mitti that has been added to the list of patriotic songs in many music charts, Arko, who composed the music for the hit, shares, “I keep telling MM (Manoj Muntashir) that it is very difficult to have this standard of poetry – so lucid and deep at the same time.”

He adds, “In my experience, if you fiddle with a song too much, it does not improve, but this song is an exception. I had about 30 verses and it was so difficult to pick what to keep and what not. MM and I have a great time together. He knows that I am non-diplomatic and I say wrong things to big shots and I fight. Agar kisi ne kuch kiya toh main usko suna deta hoon. I didn’t give up cardio surgery to be a chamcha. I have left so many films because of this,” says Arko, who holds an MBBS degree.

Talking about Teri Mitti, he shares, “Anurag Singh argued against keeping the line ‘O maayi, kya fikr tujhe’ because there is no mother character in the film, but despite its irrelevance to the script, it was kept to convey the essential emotional connection.”

Arko’s songs like Teri Mitti have 100 million views. Some would say it’s a success, but does the number game matter to him?

“I don’t think the number game bothers me. But there’s stuff to learn from it. It matters in the industry. Success matters because it gives you the freedom. Hats off to these boys (singers) like King and Anuv Jain, I really appreciate how they have come up without the support of a big producer. Bhatt sahab gave me my debut (Jism 2) but these boys have made it on their own and people have loved their music and it is good music. But it is now that I get more feedback about the song than I did when it was released. I really don’t think music has a time frame, we have to be honest about it but the freedom to be honest also has to be earned and I am thankful to Bollywood for that,” he replies.

I am not a big fan of the current music scene and it’s not just India but across the world. When I was in high school and college, we used to go and buy CDs. Paisa save karke and we used to buy that Bryan Adams album CD, Aaj ke Top 20s, 18 songs you will not like. Why is Lucky Ali sold out everywhere? Today’s kids are listening to old music. Kids are listening to Jagjit sahab because there is no such artiste. There’s a vacancy, there is nobody like that. Achcha, bura koi nahi hai. Jagjit sahab toh legend hain par koi toh ghazal gaaye. When you switch on the TV, all you see is old songs, remixes and Punjabi music.

After 46 films, Arko says that he does not want to be dishonest with his work. “Things like ghost writing are rampant. There were producers who asked me to do albums under someone else’s name early on... We do it sometimes in the beginning, but I’m past that now. I’m not greedy. I only want to do work that keeps my integrity intact,” says the singer.