Franklin Fernandes (3 May 1919 – 1 April 2007), better known as Frank Fernand, was an Indian film maker and musician who is remembered for some of the earliest films in

Konkani cinema Konkani cinema is an Indian film industry, where films are made in the Konkani language, which is spoken mainly in the Indian states of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka and to a smaller extent in Kerala. The films have been produced in Goa, Kar ...

, such as ''

Amchem Noxib ''Amchem Noxib'' is a 1963 Indian Konkani-language film directed by A. Salam and produced by Frank Fernand. It is the second Konkani film, after '' Mogacho Anvddo'', which released in 1950. ''Amchem Noxib'' was a trendsetter for the fledgling K ...

'' (Our luck) and ''

Nirmonn ''Nirmon'' is a Goan Konkani film produced in 1966. It was directed by A. Salam and produced by Frank Fernand. The film features C. Alvares, Shalini, Anthony D’Sa, Ophelia, Souza Ferrao, Antonette and Jacinto Vaz. Cast and crew Nirmonn was ...

'' (Destiny). Frank Fernand was born in

Curchorem Curchorem (Kudchade) is a town and municipal council in the South Goa district of Goa, India. Curchorem is a part of the Quepem taluka and is a twin town with Sanvordem, both located on either side of the Zuari River. The town is self-sufficient ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and had his initial training in music from Diego Rodrigues and mastered

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

. In 1936, he moved to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He began playing music under well-known band-leader George Theodore at Green's Hotel and Taj Mahal Hotel. In 1942, he left Mumbai for

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...

to play with Rudy Cotton's band and blossomed into a fine jazz musician. He lived and played in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

for a while the same year. In the 1940s, when he was playing at a resort in Mussoorie,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

happened to be passing through. Frank Fernand listened to one of his lectures, and it brought about a big change in him. He began trying to find a way to play jazz in an Indian way.

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's first prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

's biography ''

The Discovery of India ''The Discovery of India'' was written by the Indian Independence leader, Jawaharlal Nehru (later India's first Prime Minister) during his incarceration in 1942–1945 at Ahmednagar fort in present day Indian state of Maharashtra by British co ...

'' is also said to have influenced him deeply, and resulted in his complete change of outlook. With a sense of patriotism, he later considered 15 August ( India's independence day) every year as the greatest event of the year. He was already back in Mumbai in 1946, playing with Micky Correa and his band, among others. A turning point in his career and life came in 1948 when he joined the celebrated

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

music director-duo

Shankar Jaikishan Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer *L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar *Sankar ...

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

's ''Barsat'' was his major assignment under the duo's baton. Later he worked under top-level music directors and had close association with Anil Biswas,

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

, Roshan,

C. Ramchandra Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar (12 January 1918 – 5 January 1982), also known as C. Ramchandra or Chitalkar or Anna Sahib, was an Indian music director and playback singer.''Don'', ''Hera Pheri'', ''Zanjeer'' and ''

Victoria No. 203 ''Victoria No. 203'' is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language heist comedy film produced and directed by Brij. The film stars Saira Banu, Navin Nischol, Ranjeet, Anwar Hussain and Helen. Ashok Kumar and Pran play key supporting roles and earned the Fi ...

''. He was music assistant for a few films including ''

Johny Mera Naam ''Johny Mera Naam'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language crime action film directed by Vijay Anand. The film stars the director's brother, Dev Anand and Pran in the roles of brothers separated in childhood. Hema Malini, Jeevan, Premnath, I. S. ...

''. His last assignment in the Hindi film industry was as the first assistant of

Kalyanji Anandji Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...

, another popular music director duo. His deep love for his mother-tongue Konkani motivated him to produce ''Amchem Noxib'' under his banner Frank Films with C. Alvares and Anthony Mendes in main roles. He came out with his second film ''

Nirmon ''Nirmon'' is a Goan Konkani film produced in 1966. It was directed by A. Salam and produced by Frank Fernand. The film features C. Alvares, Shalini, Anthony D’Sa, Ophelia, Souza Ferrao, Antonette and Jacinto Vaz. Cast and crew Nirmonn was ...

'' (Destiny), This film had a powerful story with C. Alvares, Shalini Mardolkar, Anthony D'Sa and Jacinto Vaz in the main cast and won the Certificate of Merit for regional films, the first of its kind for Konkani, at the hands of the then Prime Minister,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. Frank also provided the musical score for the Konkani movie ''Mhoji Ghorkarn'' directed by A Salam. Encouraged by the success of two Konkani films, he made a Hindi film ''Priya'' in 1965. It had

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thriller ...

and

Tanuja Tanuja Samarth, known mononymously as Tanuja, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the Hindi film industry. Part of the Mukherjee-Samarth family, she is the daughter of actress Shobhna Samarth and producer Kumarsen Samarth, and was ...

in the lead, with some catchy songs composed by Kalyanji-Anandji. But it bombed at the box office. Not losing heart, Frank again attempted to produce another Hindi film ''Ahat'' inspired by the popular English film ''Wait Until Dark''. The film was never released. Frank Fernand has set to music some memorable lyrics by noted poets, most remembered of them all being "Fulam Zai" and "Sobit Amchem Goem" by Dr Manohar Sardesai, for which he won the Bombay Journal Award. He had also staged a

tiatr is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa on the west coast of India as well as in Mumbai and with expatriate communities in the Middle East, United Kingdom and other cities where Konkani speakers have a considerable presence. The ...

entitled ''Bekar Patrao'' in the 1980s with a ten-piece orchestra introduced for the first time. He pioneered as a classical jazz player and in trumpet concerto by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

under music maestro

Victor Paranjoti Victor Paranjoti (1906-1967) is known for his role in promoting choral music in India in the middle of the 20th century. He was also the founder president of the Association of the Business Communicators of India (ABCI). Western classical music in ...

. In 1958, he organized a concert wherein he played the Evolution of Music, Jazz, starting with

Negro Spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the e ...

, Dixie Land Jazz, followed by New Orleans Jazz, Sound of America commercial music, Symphony Jazz and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

's Caravan. He has two daughters from his first marriage to Maxi Perera, named Elphin and Doris. From his second marriage to Madalena Velho, he has one son and one daughter, named Max and Larissa. Frank Fernand died of Parkinson's disease on 1 April 2007. A book by Naresh Fernandes called ''The Taj Mahal Foxtrot'' accurately notes down his early beginnings and also the beginnings of jazz in India in which Frank Fernand played a vital part.

Filmography

Producer

*''

'' (1963) (Konkani) *''

'' (1966) (Konkani) *''Priya'' (1965) (Hindi) *''Ahat'' (Hindi) (unreleased)

Music conductor

*''

'' (1972) *'' Zanjeer'' (1973) *'' Hera Pheri'' (1976) *''

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' (1978)

Music assistant

*''

'' (1970)

Musical score

*''Mhoji Ghorkarn'' (1969) (Konkani)

References

External links

*
Long gone blues
''Livemint''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernand, Frank 1919 births 2007 deaths People from South Goa district Goan Catholics Film directors from Goa Konkani-language film directors Musicians from Goa Indian jazz musicians Tiatrists 20th-century Indian musicians