Ameen Sayani, the man with the golden voice, who ruled the airwaves for decades together, breathed his last yesterday (20th February) in Bombay. He was 91.
His style of addressing his listeners with the words “Beheno aur bhaiyo” was so unique that thousands attempted to copy it, of course, without much success. Ameen Sayani’s Binaca Geetmala programme on Radio Ceylon used to be a hot favourite of radio listeners for years on end. The same show was later aired on Vividh Bharati (All India Radio). There used to be lakhs of crazy fans of the show as much as of the presenter’s silken voice, who used to keep track of the 16 top songs of the week every Wednesday, week after week, and year after year. In all, Ameen Saab presented more than 54,000 radio programmes and lent his musical voice to over 19,000 radio spots!
Ameen Sayani was considered the king of the voicing world with simply no one to offer him competition because nobody even came close to him. In the era in which 15-minute radio programmes used to be a necessary publicity tool for promoting new films, Ameen Sayani’s voice was the most sought-after by producers. He used to be a hit compere of film functions and his fan following was legion. He was the only artiste from the world of voicing to be awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Ameen bhai was a jovial person and used to always be cheerful and smiling. Although his health was a deterrent in his last few years, his zest for life was so much that even despite failing health, he did make an occasional appearance here and there.
His body will be kept at Studio 3, Famous Studios, Mahalaxmi, Bombay, tomorrow (22nd) from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for people to pay their last respects. His funeral will be held thereafter.