Frank Fernand
Encyclopedia
Frank Fernandes, better known as Frank Fernand (3 May 1919 - 1 April 2007), born in Curchorem
, Goa
, was a renowned film maker and musician and is remembered for his epoch making Konkani
movies like Amchem Noxib
(Our luck) and Nirmonn (Destiny).
He has two daughters from his first marriage to Maxi Perera. Their names are Elphin and Doris. He has one son and one daughter from his second marriage to Magdalene Fernand. His son's name is Max, and his daughter's name is Larissa. Frank Fernand died on June 1st 2007.
Frank Fernand had his initial training in music from Diego Rodrigues and mastered violin
and trumpet
. In 1936, he moved to Bombay. 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
to play with Rudy Cotton's band and blossomed into a fine jazz musician. He lived and played in Delhi
for a while the same year.
India
's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru
's biography 'Discovery of India' is said to have influenced him deeply, and resulted in his complete change of outlook. With a full sense of patriotism, he 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 Mickey Correia and his band. A turning point in his career and life came in 1948 when he joined the celebrated Hindi
music director-duo Shankar Jaikishan
. Raj Kapoor
'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
, Roshan
, C. Ramchandra
and others.
Fernand was music conductor for many films including Don
, Hera Pheri
, Zanjeer
and Victoria No. 203
. He was music assistant for a few films including Johny Mera Naam
.
His last assignment in the Hindi film industry was as the first assistant of Kalyanji Anandji
, 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 movie "Nirmonn" (Destiny), This film had a powerful story with C Alvares, Shalini Mardolkar, Anthony D'Sa and Jacinto Vaz in the main cast and bagged the Certificate of Merit for regional films, the first of its kind for Konkani, at the hands of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi
.
Frank also provided the musical score for the Konkani movie 'Mhoji Ghorkarn' directed by A Salam. Encouraged by the success of two Konkani movies, he made a Hindi movie "Priya" in 1965. It had Sanjeev Kumar and Tanuja in the lead, with some catchy songs composed by Kalyanji Anandji. But this movie 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 entitled 'Bekar Patrao' in the 1980s with a ten-piece orchestra introduced for the first time. He pioneered as classical Jazz player and Trumpet Concerto by Handel under music maestro Victor Paranjoti. In 1958, he organized a concert wherein he played the Evolution of Music, Jazz, starting with Negro Spirituals, Dixie Land Jazz, followed by New Orleans Jazz, Sound of America commercial music, Symphony Jazz and Ravi Shankar
's Caravan.
Curchorem
Curchorem is a city and a municipal council in the South Goa District in India, and is part of the Quepem Taluka, in the State of Goa. Curchorem and Sanvordem are twin towns on either side on the Zuari river...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, was a renowned film maker and musician and is remembered for his epoch making Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
movies like Amchem Noxib
Amchem Noxib
Amchem Noxib is a Goan Konkani film released in 1963.It was only the second Konkani film, after Mogacho Anvddo, which was released in 1950 and producer Frank Fernand's first movie, before the National Award winning Nirmon...
(Our luck) and Nirmonn (Destiny).
Frank Fernand had his initial training in music from Diego Rodrigues and mastered violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. In 1936, he moved to Bombay. 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
Mussoorie is a city and a municipal board in the Dehradun District of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located about 35 km from the state capital of Dehradun and 290 km north from the national capital of New Delhi...
to play with Rudy Cotton's band and blossomed into a fine jazz musician. He lived and played in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
for a while the same year.
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
's biography 'Discovery of India' is said to have influenced him deeply, and resulted in his complete change of outlook. With a full sense of patriotism, he 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 Mickey Correia and his band. A turning point in his career and life came in 1948 when he joined the celebrated Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
music director-duo Shankar Jaikishan
Shankar Jaikishan
Shankar Jaikishan , also known as S/J, is an Indian music composer duo in the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949–1971....
. Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
'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
Anil Biswas (composer)
Anil Biswas was a famous Indian film music composer from 1935 to 1965, who apart from being one of pioneers of playback singing, is also credited for the first Indian orchestra of twelve pieces and introducing orchestral music and full-blooded choral effects, into Indian cinema...
, Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
, Roshan
Roshan (music director)
Roshanlal Nagrath , better known simply by his first name Roshan, was a Bollywood film music composer. He was the father of the actor and film director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan and grandfather of Hritik Roshan.-Early life and education:Roshan was born in Gujranwala, Punjab,...
, C. Ramchandra
C. Ramchandra
Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar was a renowned music composer in the movie industry of India. In the composer's role, he mostly used the name C. Ramachandra, though he also used the names Annasaheb , Ram Chitalkar Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar(Marathi: रामचंद्र नरहर चितळकर /सी.रामचंद्र ) (1918–1982) was...
and others.
Fernand was music conductor for many films including Don
Don (1978 film)
Don is a 1978 Indian action film, produced by Nariman Irani and directed by Chandra Barot, with music by Kalyanji Anandji and lyrics by Anjaan. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekhar, Helen and Om Shivpuri, Satyen Kappu and Pinchoo Kapoor. It was the third-highest grossing...
, Hera Pheri
Hera Pheri (1976 film)
Hera Pheri is a 1976 Hindi movie directed by Prakash Mehra and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saira Banu, Vinod Khanna, Sulakshana Pandit, Shreeram Lagoo and Asrani. The film's music is by Kalyanji Anandji and the lyrics by Anjaan.This movie was 'superhit' at boxoffice.Vinod Khanna received a Filmfare...
, Zanjeer
Zanjeer
Zanjeer , is a 1973 Hindi film directed and produced by Prakash Mehra; starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Ajit and Bindu. The movie changed the trend from romantic films to action films and pioneered Amitabh's new image of a brooding but explosive person who fights back when cornered...
and Victoria No. 203
Victoria No. 203
Victoria No. 203 is a 1972 Hindi film produced and directed by Brij. The film stars Navin Nischol, Saira Banu , Ranjeet, Anwar Hussain, Helen and in an inspired bit of casting -Ashok Kumar and Pran- who play key supporting roles in the film and who earned the only Filmfare nominations for the...
. He was music assistant for a few films including Johny Mera Naam
Johny Mera Naam
Johny Mera Naam is a 1970 Indian Hindi movie. Directed by Vijay Anand, it stars the director's brother, Dev Anand and Pran in the role of a pair of brothers separated in childhood. Hema Malini, Jeevan, Premnath, I. S. Johar and Iftekhar also star in this movie. It is considered a Dev Anand...
.
His last assignment in the Hindi film industry was as the first assistant of Kalyanji Anandji
Kalyanji Anandji
Kalyanji Anandji is a name used by Indian composer duo known for its work on Hindi film soundtracks, particularly action potboilers in the 1970s. The name comes from first names of the two Gujarati brothers that formed the duo, Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah...
, 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 movie "Nirmonn" (Destiny), This film had a powerful story with C Alvares, Shalini Mardolkar, Anthony D'Sa and Jacinto Vaz in the main cast and bagged 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 Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
.
Frank also provided the musical score for the Konkani movie 'Mhoji Ghorkarn' directed by A Salam. Encouraged by the success of two Konkani movies, he made a Hindi movie "Priya" in 1965. It had Sanjeev Kumar and Tanuja in the lead, with some catchy songs composed by Kalyanji Anandji. But this movie 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 entitled 'Bekar Patrao' in the 1980s with a ten-piece orchestra introduced for the first time. He pioneered as classical Jazz player and Trumpet Concerto by Handel under music maestro Victor Paranjoti. In 1958, he organized a concert wherein he played the Evolution of Music, Jazz, starting with Negro Spirituals, Dixie Land Jazz, followed by New Orleans Jazz, Sound of America commercial music, Symphony Jazz and Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
's Caravan.