I used simple language and people connected with it, says Sayani. It also helped spread Hindustani,which India needed in the years after independence. Somehow,the programme was not only mass entertainment but also a unique way of national integration. Radio Ceylon became the main broadcaster of film songs in India as AIR had banned film songs in the 1950s. On December 8,1951,he hosted the first show of Geetmala for Radio Ceylon and got a pay packet of Rs 25. He got introduced to radio at the age of seven when he took part in childrens programmes for AIR. I was always engrossed in letters,some requesting songs and others from female fans who would liberally sprinkle romantic adulation, laughs Sayani. First it was called Binaca Geetmala,then Hit Parade and finally Cibaca Geetmala which was how it was known for the longest time. What began as a half-hour programme in December 1951 turned into a rage in 1952. Last month he released a set of five CDs called Geetmala Ki Chaon Mein (Saregama,Rs 595). I used to get thousands of letters everyday, says Sayani,78,on the phone from Mumbai. And a nation cocked its ears to the big boxy radio that would play songs,such as the haunting Aayega aanewala and the naughty Achaji main hari,which were interspersed with Ameen Sayanis voice that brought home Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi and added panache to what was arguably Indias first countdown show,Geetmala. Hello,behno aur bhaiyo,aapke radio dost Ameen Sayani ka adaab aur namaskar! For 50 years,this voice greeted numerous listeners,first of Radio Ceylon and then All India Radio (AIR).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2023
Categories |