Ameen Sayani, a popular former radio announcer, died in Mumbai on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack. He was 91.
Sayani’s son, Rajil Sayan, said his father suffered a heart attack on Tuesday night and was taken to a hospital in South Mumbai but could not be saved. Sayani’s funeral will take place on Thursday as the family is waiting for some relatives to reach Mumbai on Wednesday, according to a report in the Indian Express.
The iconic radio presenter hosted the popular show Binaca Geetmala. Here are five things to know about his life:
1. Sayani, who was born in Mumbai in a multilingual family on December 21, 1932, had an iconic introduction: ‘Namaste behno aur bhaiyon, main aapka dost Ameen Sayani bol raha hoon’ on Radio Ceylon, which still evokes strong nostalgia amongst listeners.
2. He had a creative flair since childhood and started writing for his mother's fortnightly journal Rehbar when he was just 13, which was also the age when he became a proficient broadcaster in English and started participating in children's programmes on the English service of All India Radio Bombay.
3. Sayani got a chance to host Binaca Geetmala on Radio Ceylon in December 1952 and never looked back. Binaca Geetmala, which began as a 30-minute programme on Radio Ceylon, turned into a rage in the 1950s. A first-of-its-kind show, it ran from 1952 to 1994 to massive popularity. It also moved stations and was later broadcast on All India Radio’s Vividh Bharti.
4. When the then Minister for Information and Broadcasting, B V Keskar banned Hindi songs from AIR, Radio Ceylon, which was then broadcast from Colombo, started to boom.
5. Sayani holds the record for hosting and comparing over 54,000 radio programs. He also holds a record in the Limca Book of Records for his contributions to approximately 19,000 jingles as a voiceover artiste.
(With inputs from PTI)