FATHER OF CONCANNIM FILMDOM
Comment: A doyen of the Concannim film world. A home grown genius. An artistic Goemcar of the highest order. The man who made those lovely movies that set Goemcar hearts agog. The maestro who moved a generation and gave us something which we could proudly claim as our very own.
Frank Fernand was a pioneer who created a lasting legacy. A legacy that needs many more Franks to carry forward the beauty and glory of our, our very own maim bhas. He was the Father of Concannim filmdom. His life and work will be an inspiration to Goemcars today and for generations to come. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Frank Fernand, producer of epoch-making Konkani films "Amchem Noxib" and "Nirmonn", breathed his last at the age of 87 years here on April 1, and was buried at Borivli in a quiet funeral. born on May 3, 1919, at Curchorem, the pioneering musician had the privilege of being baptized by Anjuna’s saintly priest Fr Agnelo de Souza. In 1942, Frank was exposed to jazz standards while performing in 1942 at Savoy Hotel in Mussorie with the Rudy Cotton band. He played for a while the same year in New Delhi too. By 1946 Frank was performing for Mickey Correia’s celebrated band. He joined the film industry in 1948, playing the violin and trumpet for music duo Shankar-Jaikishan. Frank is also associated with the success of Raj Kapoor’s super hit "Barsat" and another film with music director SD Burman. He did remarkable musical arrangements for Kishore Kumar, C. Ramchandra, Roshan and Anil Biswas. The Hindi Film music community still cherishes Frank’s final assignment with music director Kalyanji-Anandji as his first assistant. He produced Konkani film Amchem Noxib based on Ratus’ story, under the banner of Frank Films (Goa). With a successful comedy, memorable music and Rita Lobo’s fresh face Amchem Noxib was runaway hit. Frank launched "Nirmonn" in Konkani, with a touching story, and received the Certificate of Merit, at the hands of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the film was also made in Hindi as "Taqdeer" and was directed by A. Salam. Frank Fernand joined G Saraiya to produce "Priya", in Hindi in 1965, with music by Kalyanji Anandji. Frank, who excelled at jazz, has also provided the musical score for the film "Mhoji Ghorkarn", directed by A. Salam. He has also staged a tiatr "Bekar Patrao" in the eighties with a ten-piece orchestra. The veteran musician had a setback when he contracted Parkinson’s disease in 1985.
[By Isidore Dantas]
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