Brothers Sayani — Broadcasters Extraordinaire
1. The demise, a couple of week back of Ameen Sayani, the remaining half of the famed Sayani brothers (Hamid and Ameen) brings to an end the first family of Indian broadcasting who together (and later in part) ruled the hearts and minds of generations through a predominant part of the twenty first century and in some sense also marks the end of an era.
2. Growing up, stepping into adolescence and though teenage, Sunday afternoons were invariably spent glued to the radio listening to the Bournvita Quiz Contest (what we in student lingo referred to as “BQC”). Hosted, in the early years, by the inimitable Hamid Sayani, the elder of the Sayani brothers and sponsored by Cadbury India, “BQC” with its lilting tunes, the baritonic voice of Hamid Sayani and, of course, the deeply engaging and user-friendly manner in which it was conceived, planned and presented was the ultimate syncretic combination of education and entertainment with elements of fun, enjoyment and competition admixed for good measure.
3. In a day and age when educational methodologies were, perhaps, still a bit old school and computing capabilities or online resources still not visible on the horizon, the “BQC” represented the earliest forms of edutainment and a mighty potent and successful one at that. Throughout the week, a common and most eagerly discussed topic in school was the current state of competition in “BQC” and where our school was placed. The manner in which Hamid Sayani conducted it — making it engaging for the listeners, with anecdotes, humour, encouragement and surprise thrown in a mixture of adroit and measured abundance was a joy to listen. Even the selection process to be in the school team was mightily competitive and no-holds barred with the incentive apart from being the cynosure of the school, also being the most-sought after opportunity to have a personal, albeit brief, tete-a-tete with the man Hamid Sayani himself and to see him in person.
4. Even more than half a century later, the words “Cadbury’s present the Bournvita Quiz Contest” delivered by him in his very own deep-throated, almost melodious style, effortlessly, still ring in my ears and bring back memories of those lazy Sunday afternoons glued to the Radio sets listening to the “BQC”. I was mightily disappointed to the point of being demoralized when in spite of putting in what, I thought was a stupendous effort, I was not selected for the school team to take part in “BQC”. The vicarious pleasure that I derived at the somewhat dismal performance of the team selected, while acting as a balm, did little to assuage my feelings.
5. For me and in fact for countless teenagers and adolescents of that era Hamid Sayani was and remains India’s original Quizmaster and “BQC” synonymous with his voice and the effortless manner in which he conducted it belying the countless hours and redoubtable effort involved in conceptualizing, researching and presenting it.
6. To set the record straight Hamid was a much celebrated producer, broadcaster and presenter of Radio Programmes to the point of being called the king of airwaves and achieved unprecedented fame, success and an enviable degree of fan-following (including mentoring and guiding the younger brother Ameen to unprecedented success). However, for me, he remains indelibly and unshakeably associated with “BQC” (more so since he was a defining and most tenuous influence in the most formative and impressionable years of my life). Of course, as a most wholesome and welcome by-product, it birthed in me a life-long and passionate interest in quizzing and endeavouring to assimilate general knowledge — which process given the vast expanse of information and the inherent limitations of the human brain to process it remains a permanent work-in-progress.
7. Following Hamid’s death in 1975 after having successfully piloted “BQC” for four years his younger brother and, may I call, protégé Ameen Sayani, a legendary broadcaster, in his own right, stepped into his shoes and successfully hosted “BQC” for close to eight years. Mind you, it was not “BQC”, but “Binaca Geetmala” “, a programme which he hosted for several decades — in fact for a total of 42 years wherein he developed a fan following which could be the envy of any Bollywood star which was Ameen’s signature success. Starting with All India Radio, moving on to Radio Ceylon (because of a ban by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Hindi Film music) and back to Vividh Bharati, several generations of avid listeners, regularly tuned into to “Binaca (and later “Cibaca”) Geetmala” for their share of entertainment and Bollywood music.
8. Beginning with the iconic line “Behno aur Bhaiyo” (Sisters and Brothers) as opposed to the more traditional “Bhaiyo or Behnon” his prosaic voice delivered in a measured tone with the baritonic influence so inherent in the Sayani Brothers, the introduction transcended all manner of a people, criss-crossing almost the entire stratum of society thereby eliminating any actual or perceived barrier of age, caste, colour, region, religion, sex and gave the listeners an incisive, distinct, systemic yet simple peep into the world of Bollywood. Growing up, I have distinct memories of my siblings, their friends, the extended and even remote family expectantly waiting for and animatedly listening to the “Binaca Geetmala” and feeling intensely frustrated, in the rare occurrence the airways gave way or were prone to static disturbances. While over a period of time listening to Radio Programmes has gradually lost its importance in the scheme of things (given the wide spread proliferation and acceptance of social media,) thankfully, HMV Saregama has a couple of years back, through its Saregama Carvaan, a portable digital audio player, resurrected a bygone era and brought Ameen Sayani’s lilting smooth flowing voice back to life.
9. Here again, while Binaca Geetmala might have been responsible for Ameen’s fame popularity and acclaim, rightly so considering its spontaneous presentation and wide reach, he was also an acclaimed programme host, and provided the voice over for numerous spots, jingles and even films and edited alongwith his mother, Kulsum Sayani, a fortnightly journal “RAHBER” (an Urdu word translated to mean a “guide” or “leader”) published in Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati.
10. The death of Ameen Sayani (at the ripe old age of 92, elder brother Hamid Sayani died prematurely at the age of 46) hastens the process of bringing the curtains down on an era of legendary broadcasters both from radio and the nascent days of television who were iconic figures in the first couple of decades of Independent India and in my formative years — apart from brothers Sayani, names like Melville de Mellow, Jasdev Singh, Pratima Puri (Doordarshan’s first newsreader) Anant Setalvad, Tabassum (with her icon Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan) — to name a few, all enthralled us and enriched our lives together with providing solace and much needed entertainment/enrichment. Just to clarify the names mentioned suffer from a personal bias as they were my personal favourites. There were numerous other accomplished broadcasters, who were also legends and path-breakers in their own right
11. In the early days of Independent India, when a country deeply unsettled by the ravages of partition, suffering from incipient growth pangs (a natural outcome of years of foreign rule and its attendant plundering of resources) was deftly attempting to make its mark on the world stage, these legends with unborn talent, duly fuelled by an extraordinary dose of earnest endeavour provided the much needed succour.
12. Having seen and observed these legendary broadcasters in the nascent days of media in Independent India one would be tempted to say — one does not make them like that anymore. While that statement might be relevant, it is not necessarily true — for while those legends were icons and trendsetters in their own right, considering the radical and tectonic shift that society and polity in general and media in particular have undergone over the years, the aptitude, calibre and talent required has also correspondingly mutated leading to present day broadcasting icons in new avatars with different approaches — may be when the timeline moves ahead the next generation will again be tempted to say- they do not make them like that anymore.
