>FrescoBot at 16:39, 6 July 2021

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{{short description|Indian film director}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}

[[File:Amchem Noxib.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A still from Frank Fernandes' [[Monochrome photography|monochrome]] 1963 Konkani film ''Amchem Noxib''.]]
'''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]], such as ''[[Amchem Noxib]]'' (Our luck) and ''[[Nirmonn]]'' (Destiny).<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=32041&n_tit=News+headlines
|title = A Tribute to Frank Fernand
|accessdate = 2008-12-09
|author = Richie Lasrado
|publisher = [[Daiji World|Daijiworld Media Pvt Ltd Mangalore]]
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120323061646/http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=32041&n_tit=News+headlines#
|archive-date = 23 March 2012
|url-status = live
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref>

Frank Fernand was born in [[Curchorem]], [[Goa]] and 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 Palace & Tower|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.<ref>[https://groups.yahoo.com/group/gulf-goans/message/13150 Gulf Goans]. groups.yahoo.com.</ref> In the 1940s, when he was playing at a resort in Mussoorie, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] happened to be passing through. Frank Fernand listened to one of his lectures, and it brought about a big change in him.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afropop.org/wp/8489/hip-deep-interview-naresh-fernandes-on-bombays-jazz-age/# |title=Archived copy |access-date=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708094023/http://www.afropop.org/wp/8489/hip-deep-interview-naresh-fernandes-on-bombays-jazz-age/ |archive-date=8 July 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He began trying to find a way to play jazz in an Indian way.

[[India]]'s first prime minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s biography ''[[The Discovery of India]]'' 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 ([[Independence Day (India)|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]] music director-duo [[Shankar Jaikishan]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=American Popular Music in Britain's Raj|last=Shope|first=Bradley|publisher=University of Rochester Press|year=2016|isbn=9781580465489|location=Rochester, NY|pages=144}}</ref> [[Raj Kapoor]]'s [[Barsaat (1949 film)|''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 (composer)|Anil Biswas]], [[Kishore Kumar]], [[Roshan (music director)|Roshan]], [[C. Ramchandra]] and others.

Fernand was music conductor for many films including [[Don (1978 film)|''Don'']], [[Hera Pheri (1976 film)|''Hera Pheri'']], [[Zanjeer (1973 film)|''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 language|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]]'' (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]].

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]] and [[Tanuja]] 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 (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 a classical jazz player and in trumpet concerto by [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] under music maestro [[Victor Paranjoti]]. In 1958, he organized a concert wherein he played the Evolution of Music, Jazz, starting with [[Negro spirituals|Negro Spirituals]], [[Dixieland|Dixie Land Jazz]], followed by [[Music of New Orleans#Jazz|New Orleans Jazz]], Sound of America commercial music, Symphony Jazz and [[Ravi Shankar]]'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.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=1535865|name= Frank Fernand}}
* [http://www.livemint.com/2011/12/03114919/Excerpt--Long-gone-blues.html Long gone blues]. [[LiveMint|''Livemint'']].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernand, Frank}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:People from South Goa district]]
[[Category:Goan Catholics]]
[[Category:Film directors from Goa]]
[[Category:Konkani-language film directors]]
[[Category:Musicians from Goa]]
[[Category:Indian jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Tiatrists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian musicians]]

Frank Fernand - Revision history

>FrescoBot at 16:39, 6 July 2021