• Ameen Sayani, radio’s most recognised voice that struck an instant chord with millions of Indians who tuned in to ‘Binaca Geetmala’ every week for 42 years, passed away in Mumbai. He was 91.

• Sayani represented the golden age of radio.

• “Namaste behno aur bhaiyo, main aapka dost Ameen Sayani bol raha hoon”, the familiar greeting and the instantly identifiable voice coasted on airwaves into countless homes every Wednesday on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988, still evoking strong nostalgia amongst listeners.

• After 1988, Binaca Geetmala  moved to All India Radio’s Vividh Bharati where it ruled the charts till 1994, making it one of the longest running programmes on radio.

• Sayani, who was born in Mumbai in a multilingual family on December 21, 1932, compered, presented and voiced over 50,000 programmes and over 19,000 jingles. 

• He also conducted the Bournvita Quiz Contest for eight years, taking over after the death of his brother Hamid Sayani. Besides, Sayani’s interviews with legends such as Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar are still special.

• His elder brother, Hamid Sayani, who was already a well-known broadcaster, introduced a young Sayani to radio programmes on the English service of All India Radio Bombay.

• After completing his college, Sayani auditioned for a presenter’s job in the Hindi service of AIR, but was rejected because of a slight Gujarati accent.

• His tryst with fame came a few years later with Radio Ceylon.

• In 1952, then information and broadcasting minister B.V. Keskar banned Hindi film songs from AIR. 

• Around that time, Radio Ceylon, which was founded by the British, started becoming popular for its programmes in English, Tamil and Hindi. Broadcast from Colombo, Radio Ceylon began its journey in 1949. 

• American businessman Daniel Molina saw an opportunity there and established his company, Radio Advertising Services in Mumbai. He hired Sayani’s elder brother to run Radio Ceylon's production arm.

• Hamid Sayani and Molina were keen to produce a programme on Hindi film songs and the elder Sayani zeroed in on his young brother who grabbed the chance for a salary of Rs 25 per week.

• Sayani became a radio presenter in Hindi with Binaca Geetmala, a programme of Hindi film songs sponsored by the toothpaste brand, in December 1952 and never looked back. 

• The first of its kind show, the programme was so popular that millions from different parts of India would tune in on Wednesday to listen to Sayani in his inimitable voice introducing songs from Hindi cinema. 

• The programme later shifted to Vividh Bharti and was named as ‘Cibaca Geetmala’ and later as ‘Colgate Cibaca Geetmala’, but Sayani’s fans continued to tune in for years.

• He also had brief stints in movies such as ‘Bhoot Bungla’, ‘Teen Devian’ and ‘Qatl’.

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