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Ameen Sayani (b. December 21, 1932, Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India – d. February 20, 2024, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) was an Indian radio announcer. He achieved fame and popularity across the Indian Subcontinent when he presented his Binaca Geetmala program of hits over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. He was one of the most imitated announcers. His style of addressing the audience with "Behno aur Bhaiyo " (meaning "sisters and brothers") as against the traditional "Bhaiyo aur Behno" is still treated as an announcement with a melodious touch. He had produced, compered (or provided voice-overs for) over 54,000 radio programs and 19,000 spots/jingles since 1951.
Ameen Sayani was introduced to All India Radio, Bombay, by his brother Hamid Sayani. Ameen participated in English programs there for ten years.
Later, he helped popularize All India Radio in India. Sayani was also a part of various movies throughout the years like Bhoot Bungla, Teen Devian, Boxer, and Qatl. He appeared in all of these movies in the role of an announcer in some event.
Sayani assisted his mother, Kulsum Sayani, in editing, publishing and printing a fortnightly journal for neo-literates, under the instructions of Mahatma Gandhi. The fortnightly, RAHBER (1940 to 1960), was simultaneously published in Devnagri (Hindi), Urdu and Gujarati scripts – but all in the simple "Hindustani" language promoted by Gandhi.
It was this grounding in simple communication that helped him in his long career of commercial broadcasting and culminated in his being awarded the "Hindi Ratna Puraskaar" by the prestigious Hindi Bhavan of New Delhi in 2007.
One little known fact about him is that he worked in the marketing Department of Tata Oil Mills Ltd. during 1960–62 as Brand Executive – mainly looking after their toilet soaps: Hamam and Jai.
Between All India Radio (from 1951), AIR's Commercial Service (from 1970) and various foreign stations (from 1976), Sayani produced, compered (or spoke for) over 54,000 radio programs and 19,000 spots/jingles.
Ameen Sayani was born on December 21, 1932, into a Gujarati-speaking Muslim family in Mumbai. His parents were Kulsoom and Jan Mohammad Sayani. His mother was a freedom fighter and was close to Mahatma Gandhi, which is why Sayani called himself a Gandhian. He married a Kashmiri Pandit, Rama Mattu.
Ameen Sayani died of a heart attack on February 20, 2024.
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Ameen Sayani, Pioneering Radio Star in India, Dies at 91
One of the first voices heard on the airwaves in Asia, he became recognized by generations of listeners in India over 42 years of broadcasting Bollywood music.
Suhasini Raj and
Suhasini Raj reported from New Delhi and John Yoon from Seoul.
Ameen Sayani, a pioneering radio presenter who drew in generations of listeners in India with his melodic voice on a radio show that became a national phenomenon, died in Mumbai on Tuesday. He was 91.
He died of a heart attack in a hospital, according to his son, Rajil.
Mr. Sayani was one of the most recognizable voices in Indian radio as the host of one of the first radio shows in the country. He showcased songs featured in Hindi movies for more than 42 years, helping establish a place for film music in India’s popular culture.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India expressed his condolences on social media on Wednesday, saying that Mr. Sayani “played an important role in revolutionizing Indian broadcasting and nurtured a very special bond with his listeners.”
Ameen Sayani was born on Dec. 21, 1932, in Mumbai. From a young age, he showed an interest in the humanities, helping his mother, Kulsum Sayani, with her literary journal as a teenager and becoming fluent in Hindi, English, Gujarati and Marathi, his son said. Ameen’s father, Janmohammed Sayani, was a medical doctor. Both parents were involved in India’s independence struggle.
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Mr. Sayani was involved in radio as early as age 7, becoming one of the first voices to be heard on the airwaves in Asia after his elder brother, an English-language presenter, introduced him to the medium. Ameen graduated from Mumbai University with a degree in history.
In 1952, Mr. Sayani started the radio program that drove him to fame, “Binaca Geetmala,” which showcased Bollywood music.
He hosted the program on Radio Ceylon, one of the oldest radio stations in the world, based in what is now Sri Lanka. The year he started his show, All India Radio, the state-owned radio broadcaster where he had worked before, stopped airing Hindi film music, as the government believed it was vulgar and westernized after India achieved independence from Britain.
Listeners tuned into Mr. Sayani’s program, and Radio Ceylon, in droves. While his show began as a half-hour series, it was extended to an hour two years later because of its explosive popularity. The show also became one of the main presenters of popular film music on the radio in India.
“Hello, sisters and brothers,” he often said on the show in Hindi. “This is your friend Ameen Sayani talking.” The phrase became his signature, and widely imitated, way of addressing his audience, evoking nostalgia, and instantly recognizable among longtime listeners. He said later in an interview with an Indian TV station that he insisted on mentioning the “ladies first.”
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The show was moved to All India Radio in 1989, years after the broadcaster reversed its ban on Bollywood music. The program thrived for decades, captivating listeners with Mr. Sayani’s deep knowledge and his versatile ability to be serious at times and playful at others.
The show ended in 1994 as satellite television took hold in India. But in the years that followed, he appeared on various shows, in India and abroad, as a radio jockey.
“For most of us,” Anurag Thakur, India’s information and broadcasting minister, said, “he was the voice of the radio, who, with his magical wordplay, entertained and engaged us in a way no one had before.”
Mr. Sayani is survived by his son and daughter-in-law. Mr. Sayani’s wife, Rama Sayani, whom he married in 1958, died in 2002.
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