The golden era of radio has come to an end as iconic host Ameen Sayani, who had become a household name with the radio programme Geetmala, passed away on Tuesday night after suffering a heart failure.
He was 91 at the time of his death.
The news of his demise was confirmed by his son Rajil Sayani, who stated that the grand old man of Radio breathed his last while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
“He was at the hospital and passed away last night, we will be issuing a statement on the last rites very soon. The doctors at the hospital attended him but couldn’t save him and he was declared dead,” Rajil Sayani stated.
The last rites and funeral is expected to take place on Thursday after the arrival of some close relatives of Sayani in the city.
Ameen Sayani’s tryst with the Radio
Sayani was born on December 21, 1932, in Mumbai to popular English broadcaster Hamid Sayani and his wife, who ran a newsletter.
Sayani’s tryst with radio began in the 1952 with Radio Ceylon, and since then, there was no looking back for him.
With Binaca Geetmala, he shot to overnight fame and his style of addressing, “Behno aur bhaiyo”, became a hit among the masses.
Throughout his life span, Sayani produced and compered for over 54,000 radio programmes and 19,000 jingles.
Besides, he also played the role of an announcer or compere in several films, including Bhoot Bungla, Teen Devian, Boxer, and Qatl.
Sayani was honoured with the “Hindi Ratna Puraskaar” by the prestigious Hindi Bhavan of New Delhi in 2007.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected to India)