‘Bahno-bhaiyo...’ the voice of Binaca Geetmala falls silent
NEW DELHI: On an assignment to Jhumri Telaiya, Jharkhand, a town known for sending a deluge of song requests to the music programmes of the All India Radio a few years ago, the name of Ameen Sayani, invariably popped up. Sayani is part of the Jhumri Telaiya’s lore; he is a constant reference in a conversation on music; radio anchors, past and present are compared to him.
The name of this town in the boondocks, in fact, came to light when a Rameshwarprasad Barnwal, of a mining family here, sent a postcard to Radio Ceylon and had his name mentioned in Ameen Sayani’s Binaca Geetmala, its legendary programme of Hindi film songs in the ’50s. And then everyone had to have theirs too and began posting their letters.
Sayani passed away, aged 91, on Tuesday night in Mumbai after a heart attack. Such was his status as a legend that for the last four years, he had been rumoured to have been “dead” at least four times, says a radio industry insider. It was as if something precious would have melted into air with his passing, and so it was important to pay attention to his life.
Born in Mumbai to a Gujarati family, Sayani was the youngest of three brothers. His father Dr Janmohommed, a doctor, and mother Kulsum Sayani, was an editor of the magazine Rahber. Sayani’s death was confirmed by his son, Rajil Sayani, on Wednesday. Actors Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee and Ajay Devgn paid tribute to him on social media.
“Shri Ameen Sayani Ji’s golden voice on the airwaves had a charm and warmth that endeared him to people across generations,” PM Modi said on X. “Through his work, he played an important role in revolutionising Indian broadcasting and nurtured a very special bond with his listeners. Saddened by his passing away.”
Veteran Mumbai-based radio anchor Manohar Mahajan who was associated with Radio Ceylon for many years, says he had all the qualities that were essential for a radio professional. “His throw of voice, his way of greeting an unseen audience; he had superb control over language; he had vocabulary and the pronounciation to go with it, he brought together all these and used it to great impact,” he says.
Popular producer-anchor of ‘Guftagoo’, Irfan, who has been hosting live radio shows on FM for more than a decade interviewed Sayani for Doorsdarshan in 2005. What he remembers of him is Sayani being quite particular about the
way he was being presented; he had an image and in some manner, wanted to be able to “control” it. “Where was he to sit, where was the interviewer to be seated, he wanted in a manner of speaking to control the set,” says Irfan.
That said, there is no denying Sayani’s unique signature style, his language a mix of Hindi and Urdu, his constant attempt to connect with the audience in a popular idiom at a time when national broadcasters were Hindi or Urdu-centric.
Irfan who belongs to a different school of anchoring, but has studied Sayani’s script, offers an example to show what distinguished Sayani’s style from others: “Arrey bahno-bhaiyo… udhar mann ki matwali been baji aur idhar aap mujhse ladney ke liye khadey ho gaye hai? Aap shayad yahi shikayat karna chahte hain ki main aise hit geeton ki jhalkein hi kyon baja raha hun? Poore geet kyon nahin baja raha?”
His ability to strike a chord with the audience; the reversal of the conventional “bhaiyo-bahno” to “bahno-bhaiyo” making him woke before the term had even been invented and guaranteeing a popularity among female listeners; the skill to talk to a radio audience as if a conversation was taking place in real time; and persuasion as a style and mode of address—all this made him a standout artist and legend that anchors looking for instant popularity, rushed to imitate.