The greeting “Behno aur bhaiyon”, which has been a tradition for more than five decades, will never again resonate with millions of avid radio listeners as its iconic voice, Amin Sayani, has fallen silent. The most recognised voice of radio passed away at the age of 91 due to a heart attack in Mumbai. His last rites will be held on Thursday.
Generations of Indians grew up listening to Sayani on his immensely popular weekly radio programme, Binaca Geetmala, aired every Wednesday, featuring the most popular Hindi film songs and rating them accordingly. Almost all playback singers, music directors, and even actors anxiously awaited the broadcast to assess their ratings in an era devoid of television.
More than just an announcer, Sayani was an institution in the world of radio, spanning generations. His popularity and credibility can be measured by the fact that radio listeners and the film fraternity remained devoted to him for nearly 40 years.
“Namaste behno aur bhaiyon, main aapka dost Amin Sayani bol raha hoon.” This familiar greeting, in his iconic voice with its thick timbre, resonated through countless homes every Wednesday on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988, still evoking strong nostalgia among listeners. After 1988, Binaca Geetmala moved to All India Radio’s Vividh Bharati, where it continued to dominate the charts until 1994.
Sayani interviewed the who’s who of Hindi filmdom, including Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Raj Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan, among many others.
His distinctive style of presentation, delivered in easy-to-follow Hindustani, became the benchmark for aspiring radio announcers. In fact, many attempted to emulate Sayani, but failed to captivate audiences in the same way.
Born in Mumbai into a multilingual family on December 21, 1932, Sayani hosted, presented, and voiced over 50,000 shows over the course of 42 years.
Showing creative talent since childhood, Sayani began writing for his mother’s fortnightly journal, Rehbar, at the age of just 13. He also became proficient in broadcasting in English during this time, participating in children’s programmes on the English service of All India Radio Bombay.
He later left Bombay to study in Gwalior. Upon his return to Bombay post-Independence, he auditioned for AIR’s Hindi service but was rejected due to a slight Gujarati accent. In 1952, then Information and Broadcasting Minister BV Keskar banned Hindi film songs on AIR.
Around that time, Radio Ceylon, founded by the British, began gaining popularity for its programmes in English, Tamil, and Hindi. Broadcasting from Colombo, Radio Ceylon embarked on 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, former AIR broadcaster Hamid Sayani, to oversee Radio Ceylon’s production arm.
Both Hamid Sayani and Molina were eager to produce a programme on Hindi film songs, and the elder Sayani selected his younger brother for the task.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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, it ran for 42 years to massive popularity.
Condoling his death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the iconic radio presenter “nurtured a very special bond with his listeners.”
The Editor and owner of The Pioneer, Dr Chandan Mitra, grew up listening in Kolkata to Sayani’s programme and became an avid Hindi film music follower. Dr Mitra interviewed the legendary radio announcer for Darpan magazine of The Pioneer.
