Ameen Sayani, Legendary Radio Host Who Rejected Amitabh Bachchan, Passes Away At The Age Of 91

It's the end of an era!
Legendary radio host Ameen Sayani, best known for radio programme Binaca Geet Mala in which his unique style of addressing the audience as "Behno aur bhaiyo" became popular, has left for his heavenly abode on Feb 20th night. He was 91.

Legendary Radio Host Ameen Sayani Passes Away At 91

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The news of Ameen Sayani's death was confirmed by Rajil Sayani, was said that Ameen 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," Rajit was quoted as saying.

He was being treated for heart failure.

The last rites of Sayani will likely be performed on Thursday. In his career, he reportedly made 54,000 radio programmes and 19,000 jingles. He also played small roles in films like Bhoot Bungla, Teen Devian, Boxer, and Qatl.

Sayani, whose introduction ¡®Namaskar bhaiyon aur behno, main aapka dost Ameen Sayani bol raha hoon¡¯ on Radio Ceylon still evokes strong nostalgia, was born in Mumbai in a multilingual family on December 21, 1932.

Did you know Ameen Sayani rejected Amitabh Bachchan?

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Not many people know that Amitabh Bachchan tried his luck as a radio host before becoming an actor. Given his deep baritone of voice, which is what he is popular for now, it's strange that he was rejected. The man who rejected him was none other than Ameen Sayani.

Taking about that, he had once revealed, "It was somewhere in late 60s when I used to do 20 shows a week, spending most of the day locked up in the sound studio as I was involved in the every process of radio programming. One day, a young man named Amitabh Bachchan walked in without appointment for a voice audition."

He added, "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 take an appointment and come."

Ameen was bowled over with Bachchan's performance in Anand. "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 added.

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