Ameen Sayani, synonymous with Radio entertainment in India has passed away at the age of 91. AS per family inputs, Sayani suffered a heart attack late on Tuesday evening, 20 Feb, after which he was taken to HN Reliance Hospital. The doctors attending him made numerous attempts to save him but he passed away at the hospital at 7pm on 20 February.

Ameen Sayani's tryst with radio was among the most iconic and most talked about in the media industry. He came from a family that was deep into language and literature and at a very young age he used to help his mother Kulsum with a journal that was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi. The magazine was published in English, Hindi and Urdu, which gave Ameen a command over all these three languages.

“I wanted each listener to feel that I was talking to them and it immediately struck a chord. It, surprisingly, even revolutionised radio presentation. I didn’t expect it to become a phenomenon in the coming years. They were such fantastic times. It was my romance with Radio Ceylon.” - Ameen Sayani to Indian Express

It was 1951 when Ameen Began his career with Radio Ceylon. His language and presentation was in sync with the pulse of the young independent India and his show Binaca Geetmala that was a 30 minute Bollywood music show was a hit right from the 1950s. This became a raging hit after AIR banned Bollywood music on its platform. Binaca Geetmal was renamed as Hit Parade and then as Cibaca Geetmala, but the voice and the genesis of the show never lost its essence. Geetmala show ran from 1952 till 1994 and was eventually broadcast by AIR Vividh Bharti.

Ameen Sayani holds a record for compering and hosting over 54 thousand radio programs and has lent his voice to approximately 19 thousand jingles.