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Franco Simon

Franco Simon
Background information
Birth nameFranco Simon Neelankavil
Also known asFranko
Born (1974-10-07) 7 October 1974 (age 50)
OriginThrissur, Kerala, India
GenresFilmi, Pop, Religious music
InstrumentVocals
Years active2000–present

Franco Simon (born 7 October 1974) is an Indian singer[1] and music composer from Kerala. He has sung around 150 Malayalam films songs and 1500 album songs in 5 different languages. He is the nephew of well-known Indian film composer Ouseppachan. He is a recipient of GMMA award and multiple Yuvaprathibha Puraskar for his soundtrack albums.

Biography

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Franco with band members Stephen Devassy(left) and Malaika Arora in a stage event
Franco Simon
Franco Simon performing on Stage

Franco Simon Neelankavil was born to Simon N.P. and Alice M.L on 7 October 1974 in Thrissur, Kerala, India. He is the oldest of four children. According to his parents, he has exhibited great interest in music and started singing at a very early age. He had his first on-stage performance when he was only 4 years old and has since won many awards and competitions. Franco completed his B.A. in music from Madras University.

Franco's first cinematic song was En Karalil (Raakshasi) from the movie Nammal in 2002. In 2005, Franco formed a band called Band Seven with Stephen Devassy and Sangeeth Pavithran. An Indian pop band, they released a Hindi album titled Yeh Zindagani.[2][3] In association with Kosmic Music, Franco has composed numerous Hindu devotional songs in Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit languages. Two of the hit songs from the very popular 2006 Malayalam album Chempakame brought his talents to the limelight when the album stayed on the top requested list for over 2 years. His Christian meditation album Moran Amekh in Sanskrit is unique in the world of meditation music.[4]

Partial Discography

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Languages sung

Popular Songs in Malayalam Films[5]

Popular Songs in Tamil Films

Popular songs in Telugu Films

Popular Songs In Hindi Film

Popular songs in English Film

Lead singer in bands

Popular Malayalam albums

Sanskrit album

References

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  1. ^ "Franco on Amrita TV - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 May 2016.
  2. ^ "The Hindu : Melody with meaning". www.thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Home".
  4. ^ Pradeep, K. (19 November 2015). "Music for the soul". The Hindu.
  5. ^ "Profile of Malayalam Singer Franco%20Simon%20Neelankavil".
  6. ^ "I enjoyed penning song in Thrissur slang - Times of India". The Times of India.
  7. ^ "A symphony of Redemption - Times of India". The Times of India. 25 February 2017.
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