- Saturday, February 22, 2025
Sayani used to be so busy with his work during his peak years that even a less-known Bachchan failed to meet him despite several attempts.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AMEEN Sayani, a legendary Indian radio presenter who became a household name in the 1980s and 1990s particularly for his show ‘Binaca Geetmala’, died in Mumbai on Tuesday (20) at the age of 91.
His funeral will take place on Thursday (22) as the bereaved family was waiting for some relatives to arrive on Wednesday (21). Sayani’s son Sajil Sayani confirmed the news of the former’s death to the media.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Sayani along with many other noted individuals. In a post on X, he said, “Shri Ameen Sayani Ji’s golden voice on the airwaves had a charm and warmth that endeared him to people across generations. 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. Condolences to his family, admirers and all radio lovers. May his soul rest in peace.”
Read: India’s legendary radio presenter Ameen Sayani no more
It is said that Sayani used to be so busy during his peak years that people, who wanted to meet him, had to wait for hours but still in vain. Among them was Amitabh Bachchan, one of India’s biggest actors. He had once gone to meet Sayani but the latter failed to make time for the former. Besides ‘Binaca Geetmala’, Sayani was also popular for his show ‘Sitaron Ki Jawaniyan’.
Bachchan had once gone for a voice audition to become a radio presenter. He went to the All India Radio office in Mumbai (then Bombay) to meet Sayani. But Sayani could not meet him due to his business and also the fact that Bachchan had gone to meet him without a prior appointment. It is even said that Sayani’s office staff members did not allow Bachchan to meet Sayani. The actor had made several attempts to meet India’s ‘radio king’ for an audition but he could not succeed.
Sayani said several years later that it was only after Bachchan’s 1971 film ‘Anand’ was released that the man whose voice he loved in the film, is the same one who came to him with a dream of becoming a radio presenter.
In an interview to news agency PTI, Sayani said in the late 60s, he not only used to run 20 radio shows a week but also handled radio processing. That left so little time for him that he could not meet people, let alone somebody who came to him without an appointment.
“One day, a young man named Amitabh Bachchan walked in without an appointment for a voice audition. I had not a second to spare for this thin man. He waited and left and came back a few more times. But I could not see him and kept telling him through my receptionist to make an appointment and come,” Sayani shared.
At an award show in later years where Sayani had only invited Bachchan as the chief guest, the latter recalled that he was denied an audition by a broadcasting firm thrice as they were “too busy to attend him.”
Surprised by the actor’s claim, Sayani asked his wife Rama, who also worked with him at Radio Ceylon, about Bachchan’s claim. This is when she told him how he had sent away a man saying he should come with an appointment but never met him.
Sayani though regretted denying Bachchan an audition, he still was happy thinking that the actor could otherwise topple him as a radio presenter and the country would have missed the great cinematic work of Bachchan who went on to become the undisputed king of Bollywood in later years.
“Today, though I regret denying him an audition, I realise that what happened was for the best for both of us. I would have been on the streets and he would have got so much work on radio that Indian cinema would have lost its biggest star,” he told PTI.
