Meet Ameen Sayani

Ameen’s tryst with radio began when he was seven years old. It was his elder brother and guru, Hamid Sayani (eminent broadcaster in English) who initiated him into the medium through the Bombay radio station of All-India Radio as a casual artiste in its English section. In 1949, Hamid also introduced Ameen to commercial broadcasting (for Radio Ceylon), giving him odd jobs and minor voicing assignments in English.

And then came Ameen’s momentous “break”. Through another producer, Ameen was auditioned for a Hindi commercial announcement for a weekly radio show sponsored by the makers of Ovaltine.

Since it was a “health drink”, and Ameen an energetic youth of newly independent India, he read out the commercial with such gusto that the producer had to hold his ears and command Ameen to lower his volume, for God's sake, and control his enthusiasm. Chastened, Ameen read it out again, managed to pass the audition and got his first Hindi assignment. On condition, of course, that he wouldn’t be paid – he’d just get a small tin of Ovaltine a week ! (Ameen says : “That was the basis of my good health in my long innings with commercial radio. And this isn’t a commercial, please.”)

 

Last edited by sur on 15 Mar 2007 08:18; edited 7 times in total




____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Binaca Geetmala was a highly popular weekly radio countdown show of top filmi songs from Indian cinema listened to by millions of Hindi music lovers, that was broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1994. It was the first radio countdown show of Indian film songs,[1] and has been quoted as being the most popular radio program in India during its run. [2] It was the most popular radio program before Satellite television took over in India. Binaca Geetmala, and its subsequent incarnations Cibaca Sangeetmala, Cibaca Geetmala, and Colgate Cibaca Sangeetmala on Vividh Bharati ran from 1952 to 1994, with annual year-end lists airing from 1954 to 1993.

Ameen Sayani and Radio Ceylon
The show was hosted during its entire run by Ameen Sayani, and was very popular in India, with estimated listenership ranging from 900,000 to 2,000,000. It greatly increased the popularity of Radio Ceylon, making it the primary source of popular film music on radio for the Indian subcontinent.[3] The show later aired on Vividh Bharati after 1988, and used to be on for 1/2 hour on thursday night.


Popularity ratings methodology
At its onset in 1952, the program did not rank songs, but rather played seven contemporary songs in no particular order. Later, the program started ranking the most popular Hindi film songs. The list was compiled initially on the basis of a combination of sales of records in India and listener votes to Radio Ceylon. [4]. The popularity was gauged on the basis of record sales, record store owners verdicts and that "shrota-sanghs"(Hindi for listeners clubs). These "shrota-sanghs" would send in the popular songs every week. The clubs were formed because it was possible that a record could sell out of stores quickly and the store would be out of that records, so it wouldn't show up on record sales, despite the record being very popular.

The year-end lists were compiled based on points earned by songs through the year (sometimes between 1966 and 70, there would be no points on the weekly shows broadcast, but the year-end shows would be based on point system. [5]


Lists of top songs per year
The first countdown show's topper in 1954 was Talat Mahmood’s Jayen to jayen kahan from the film Taxi Driver.[5] The lines given here are the starting lyrics of Hindi songs, transcribed phonetically into English. Unless you know Hindi and are interested in Indian music, these words are actually meaningless to native english speakers. As a culture, many educated Indians listen to Hindi songs, but use computers to type in English! So, these lists make perfect sense to a musically inclined educated Indian knowing both English and Hindi.

Top songs from 1954 to 1960:

1954: Jayen to Jayen Kahan 1955: Mera Joota Hai Japani 1956: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 1957: Zara Samne to Aao 1958: Hai Apna Dil Jo Awara 1959: Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab ka 1960: Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat

The following is a detailed annual listing of the year-end chart toppers of the Radio Ceylon radio show Binaca Geetmala:

1970s: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s: 1980





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Forever velvet  
This Sunday will be 25 years since we lost the voice of Mohd Rafi. But lost, says who? By Anil Grover
  
Abhi na jao chhod kar,

Ke dil abhi bhara nahin...

(Film: Hum Dono; music: Jaidev; lyric: Sahir Ludhianvi)

Since 1966, the world of Indian film music has been losing its stalwarts one by one though music has its own way of evading the sound of silence. With the death of the Gentleman Giant, Mohammed Rafi (55), the field of playback singing has lost another voice. A series of shock deaths have dominated in 1980 and Rafi’s departure came close on the heels of Uttam Kumar’s, a week earlier.

Undoubtedly, the most versatile male voice in Hindi film music, Rafi was first heard behind the screen in 1941 when he was hardly 15, in the Punjabi film, Gul Buloch, and in the same year he sang for his first Hindi film, Gaon Ki Gori, in Bombay. His first break had been given by the late Shyam Sunder, but the song that made him famous was the Jugnu duet (1947), Yahaan badla wafa ka, which he sang with Noorjehan. Soon, he drew notice to himself with Ek dil ke tukde hazaar hue (Pyar Ki Jeet) and Main zindagi mein hardum rota hi raha hoon (Barsaat).

But Rafi took the music world by storm for the first time with Naushad’s musical, Baiju Bawra (1953), whose songs were picturised on the then favourite gayak-kavi-kalakar Bharat Bhooshan. Naushad showed great confidence indeed in Rafi to risk him for a classical-based big-budget musical although he was still cutting his musical teeth and Talat Mehmood was reigning supreme at that time.

This was also the year which saw the advent of the prestigious Filmfare Awards and Binaca Geet Mala, both being the most representative studies of trends (the latter in music only). Naushad bagged the very first Filmfare Award for best music (Baiju Bawra) and Rafi was firmly established as No. 1 with his unforgettable Man tarpat Hari darshan ko aaj, Tu Ganga ki mauj and duniya ke rakhwaale, and the film headed the first Binaca Geet Mala, too.

Since then, Rafi has sung for nearly 30 years; only once, for a brief period after 1969 (Aradhana; Rajesh Khanna; Kishore Kumar), being overshadowed by any other male singer though there were stiff competitors throughout. He is believed to have recorded a little less than 30,000 songs, his repertoire covering almost every musical range, every Indian language, and every film actor’s lips. He won six Filmfare Awards, four of them being when there was no separate award for male and female playback singers (which separation started in 1961). He was awarded the Padmashri in 1967, and has been abroad for singing tours more than 25 times. He also had the singular honour of singing ? and how! ? what is unanimously considered the finest lyric ever written in Hindi films, Neeraj’s Caravaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe (Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal; Roshan; 1964).

If Rafi believed that Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh,/Bhagwan ka ghar hai (Amar; 1954) he still had to be a mite careful as he warned Ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan,/Zara hat ke zara bach ke,/Yeh hai Bambai meri jaan (CID; 1956). But his Laal laal gaal (Mr X; 1957) and his Champi, tel maalish (Pyasa; 1957) made the growing legion of his fans tell him, Yoon to humne laakh haseen dekhe hain,/Tumsa nahin dekha (Tumsa Nahin Dekha; 1958) and there was no possibility of this songbird fearing, Chal ud ja re panchhi,/Ab yeh desh hua begaana (Bhabhi; 1958). In fact, by now, his fans began muttering Hum bekhudi mein tum ko pukaare chale gaye (Kala Pani; 1959), and Rafi entered the 60s yelling, Ai mohabbat zindabad (Mughal-e-Azam; 1960). The Khoya khoya chaand (Kala Bazar; 1960) was overwhelmed by the Chaudhvin ka chand (title song; 1960).

Till 1969, it was Rafi all the way in that decade, and in particular, 1962 saw the complete reign of Rafi and/or Lata in the Binaca Geet Mala, except for a couple of songs by the perennial No. 2, Mukesh. Sau saal pahele,/Mujhe tum se pyaar tha,/Aaj bhi hai aur kal bhi rahega (Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai) said his avid listeners, and even his critics were swept off their feet by the typhoon of Yahoo! (Junglee) and they reluctantly admitted, Ahsaan tera hoga mujh par (Junglee), for they, too, could now see that Ab kya misaal doon (Aarti).

1963 saw a feud between Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd Rafi ? but this was one time that Lata could not obliterate a person once she boycotted him. Dil todnewaale,/Tujhe dil dhoondh raha hai (Son Of India; 1963) said Rafi and although they both said, Awaaz de ke,/Humme tum bulaao (Professor; 1963), they stopped singing duets for about three years. It was Suman Kalyanpur who then rose to the top with Rafi’s Dil ek mandir hai (title song; 1963) despite the promise between the two, Lata and Rafi, Jo vaada kiya woh nibhaana padega (Taj Mahal; 1963).

Maybe Rafi felt inwardly depressed, Kabhi na kabhi,/Kahin na kahin,/Koi na koi to aayega (Sharabi; 1964) and might have secretly courted Lata with Tere husn ki kya taarif karoon (Leader; 1964) and Phir wohi dil laya hoon (title song; 1964). He even revealed, Yeh mera prem patra padh kar/Ke tum naaraaz na ho na (Sangam; 1964) but the two hit songs of that year remained separate solos by the two: Mere mehboob tujhe,/Meri mohabbat ki kasam (title song) and Tum kamsin ho (Ayee Milan Ki Bela).

Nevertheless, Rafi did not lose any hold on the mike and listeners continued telling him, Taarif karoon kya uski,/Jis ne tumhe banaya (Kashmir Ki Kali). But soon the patchup came. If Rafi lamented, Chaahunga main tujhe saanjh savere (Dosti; 1965) it was now time to open up : Dil jo na keh saka,/Wohi raaz-e-dil,/Kehne ki raat aayi (Bheegi Raat; 1966). Rafi had had enough; Kya se kya hogaya,/Bewafa, tere pyar mein (Guide; 1966). And finally Lata did return to him for those dulcet duets once again and Rafi said: Bahaaron phool barsaao,/Mera mehboob aaya hai (Suraj; 1966)!

Meri awaaz suno,/Pyaar ka raaz suno (Naunihal; 1967) said Rafi to his fans as if he was an Aasmaan se aaya farishta (An Evening in Paris; 1968) and though he told them in return, Tum bin jaoon kahaan (Pyar Ka Mausam; 1969) little did he realise that for the first time he would lose ground to that very singer who sang that very number in a separate solo: Kishore Kumar. But then Jab dil se dil takraata hai,/Mat poochhiye kya ho jata hai (Sunghursh; 1969).

Rafi desperately tried to convince people, Main ek raaja hoon (Uphaar; 1972) but except for a Teri bindiya re (Abhimaan; 1973) here, and a Woh kya hai (Anuraag; 1973) there, Rafi was forced into the background. Even his return with Yaadon Ki Baraat; 1974) was in the company of his self-avowed fan, Kishore ? Yaadon ki baraat nikli hai aaj,/Dil ke dwaare ? the other being with Asha Bhosle, Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko.

Yet, Bairaag (1974) reminded people that Rafi was alive and with a lot of fight still left in him. After all, Peetey peetey kabhi kabhi,/Yoon jaam badal jaate hain! And with Lata again, Rafi made sure there would be no close encounters of the 1963-kind: Vaada kar le saajna, (Haath ki Safai; 1975). And finally, in 1977, Rafi proved once again that Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahin. In the film, all four songs sung by Rafi became superhits: the title qawaali, Kya hua tera vaada (which fetched him the Filmfare Award after a break of nine long years), Chaand mera dil and Yeh ladka haaye Allah.

The year also saw the rage of Laila Majnu (in which he sang all the songs of rising star Rishi Kapoor, too) under the baton of Madan Mohan and Jaidev; and the third and second ranking in Binaca’s finals that year were: meri mehbooba (Dharamveer; Laxmikant-Pyarelal) and Pardah hai pardah (Amar Akbar Anthony; Laxmikant-Pyarelal.) In 1978, LP’s Apnapan got Rafi a Filmfare nomination though eventually the song landed up with a lyric award (Anand Bakshi) instead ? Aadmi musaafir hai.

And now look at 1979-80! Just when Rafi had made a complete comeback, he’s gone! Laxmikant-Pyarelal gave him all seven songs in Sargam (four solos, three duets with Lata) and walked away with the best music award, all seven being top of the pops. They gave him four out of six in Suhaag (the other two being Asha’s) and they have been raging through the Binaca Geet Mala. They gave him five out of six (the other being Lata) in Aasha and did well enough.

Another indication of his sure return is the fact that Dev Anand who did not go in for Rafi ever since Gambler (1969) ? in which, too, he had just one ghazal ? returned to him after 10 years in the latest Man Pasand though in just one song, under the baton of Rajesh Roshan, with Tina Munim. The weekly Binaca Geet Malas in 1980 have clearly shown so far that Rafi is dominating, sometimes with as many as 10 songs as compared to Kishore’s two (on May 28) out of a total of 16 toppers!

As Lata Mangeshkar said after his death: “The void that was created by Saigal’s death had been filled by Rafi Saab. He sang with me for 33 years. He was an exceptional singer.”

Kar chale hum fida jaan--tan saathiyon/Ab tumhaare hawaale watan saathiyon...

(Film: Haqeeqat; music: Madan Mohan; lyric: Kaifi Azmi).


(Edited reproduction from Sunday magazine; August 17, 1980)





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Laxmikant Pyarelal : An Anthology
(Courtesy: Gramco Music Publishing Ltd., 1998)

Sunny, honey-toned molten gold creating jewels of timeless exquisiteness. That effectively sums up Laxmikant-Pyarelal's musical repertoire that contains timeless melodies like 'Hansta hua noorani chehra'.

Thirty five years ago Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma were a couple of struggling musicians in the Mumbai film industry. Laxmikant learnt to play the mandolin as a child. Later he became the disciple of Husnlal (of the famous Husnlal-Bhagatram duo) and went on to assist Kalyanji Anandji. The beginning to their joint musical career was made when Pyarelal joined Kalyanji Anandji.

Pyarelal learnt music from his Goan music teacher Anthony Gonsalves. He paid his guru a tribute in the song My name is Anthony Gonzalves in the film Amar Akbar Anthony. He assisted the composer-singer of the 40's, Bulo C. Rani. Both Laxmikant and Payarelal worked under Naushad, C.Ramachandra, Kalyanji-Anandji and R.D. Burman before getting their first independent assignment.

It was the film Parasmani that gave them their first brake in 1963. The Lata Mangeshkar-Kamal Barot duet 'Hansta hua noorani chehra' remained steadfast at the no.1 position of Binaca Geet Mala for weeks. It was the beginning of duo's long-lasting and extremely rewarding association with Lata Mangeshkar.

Laxmikant was once quoted as saying, "Where Didi (Lata Mangeshkar) is concerned I might say that we put in one-anna worth of effort and she turns it into a 16-anna effort". Such was the composing duo's dependence on the vocals of Lata Mangeshkar that they contemplated buying a machine whereby she could sing the female as well as male vocals!

The second turning point in Laxmi-Pyare's career was Dosti in 1964. It fetched the duo their first Filmfare award. The song 'Chahunga mein tujhe' for which singer Mohd. Rafi and lyricist Majrooh won Filmfare awards was to be scrapped from the soundtrack. It was Rafi Saab who insisted that Laxmi-Pyare retain the song and what a momentous decision that was from Dosti where there was no looking back. Scores of silver and golden jubilee musical blockbusters spilled out of recording rooms. From the late Sixties to the end of the Eighties the letters 'L' and 'P' came to stand for the 'long-playing' Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

It is doubtful that any other composer has given so many hit scores and so consistently. Filmmakers like Subodh Mukherjee, Raj Khosla, Manoj Kumar, R.K. Nayyar, J. Om Prakash, L.V. Prasad and Subhash Ghai swore by the music of L-P. The songs composed by the duo were an intrinsic part of director's creative output.

What would J. Om Prakash's Aaye Din Bahar Ke be without the sweetly melodic 'suno sajna'?. V.A. Subba Rao's 'Milan' would be incomplete without 'Sawan ka mahina' as would Raj Khosla's 'Do Raaste' without the coquettish 'Bindiya Chamkegi'. It is difficult to imagine R.K. Nayyar's 'Inteqam' without the sizzling 'Aa-jaan-e-jaa'.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal brought bahaar into so many hit films of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties that their music came to be considered an essential component for a successful film. L-P delivered truckloads of chartbusters often with one film, unlike today where only a couple of songs from a film go on to become hits.

Bobby had Chabi kho jaye, Jhooth bole kauva kaate, Pyar mein sauda nahin, Mujhe kuch kehna hai, Beshaq mandir masjid todo and Main shayar to nahin. Most L-P admirers felt that the duo had exhausted its creative fuel in Bobby. But six years later they were still the emperors of the charts with Sargam in 1979 and its hit song 'Dafli wale'.

No anthology can do full justice to the unconquered versatality and supreme staying power of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. It would only be in the fairness of things to crown Laxmi-Pyare as the most successful composers of Hindi cinema.

38 years have passed since Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey got together to sing 'Tum ganga ke chandrama ho'. Not a single crease has appeared on the shining smooth surface of the song.

Though Lataji gets to sing the creme de la creme like 'Ja re kare badra' and 'Jaane kyon log mohabbat', other singing legends too have had their finest moments. Mukesh's 'Tum bin jeevan kaise beeta', Kishore Kumar's 'Yeh jeevan hai', Mohd. Rafi's 'Aaj mausam bada beimaan hai' and Pankaj Udhas' 'Chithi aayee hai', are songs that music listeners shall hum forever.

As L-P admirers sing.. 'Hum tum yug yug se yeh geet milan ke gaate rahen hain gaate rahenge'





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

40 years can be a life time!
How one man had affected the lives of millions in that time frame is a story in it self. The voice of Ameen Sayani enriched the lives of a generation with his love-filled weekly Binaca Geet Mala- a radio programme that ranked popular Bollywood film songs every week. Long before we had even heard of the concept of chart busters- Ameen sahab created a prestigious ranking of popular hindi film music. Here was one man who challenged the frontiers of radio technology by making it even popular than it was ever dreamt of- so much so that people in India would not buy a radio set that did not receive Radio Ceylon! From 1953 to 1993, this show on Radio Ceylon magnetised the hearts and minds of millions of listeners in the Indian subcontinent.

Here's a listing of the most popular songs in each of these years.

This popular programme returned to radio in a different form in 2001, playing every Sunday night aross the nation. Who is this mysterious man? Come let's discover India's 'radio man' this





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

  

Back on air with Geetmala
  


    
  Amin Sayani has completed 60 years in radio, and last month saw the start of a fresh innings. The popular film song countdown, Geetmala, which he has been associated with for the last 50 years, is back on Vividh Bharati every Sunday night.

Now called Colgate Cibaca Geetmala, the programme comprises evergreen classics and current hits from Hindi films. The first episode was aired across 22 Vividh Bharati stations on February 18.

And it is Mr Sayani's stylised anchoring, that spawned countless imitations over the years, which is deemed responsible for the show's popularity. Binaca Geetmala, for that is how it began, was so popular it ran for 39 years on Radio Ceylon after it was started in 1952. "In fact, during its peak from the '50s through the '70s, listenership was estimated to be anywhere from 9-20 crores," says Mr Sayani. "Nobody bought radio sets that did not receive Radio Ceylon! I received feedback from all over Asia and even the east coast of Africa." Geetmala subsequently shifted to AIR's Vividh Bharati station.

Mr Sayani was initiated into radio at the age of seven by his brother, veteran broadcaster Hameed Sayani. "He was also a stage actor and director, and pioneered ad films and documentaries in India. Besides, he was a magician of international repute!" Mr Sayani informs us. "Of course, Hameedbhai broadcast in English, and I got into Hindi. My advantage was that I learnt Hindustani, which is a mix of simple Hindi and Urdu that everyone understands."

Mr Sayani produces and exports radio programmes to West Asia, the US, the UK and Canada, among other countries. "Of course, a very significant task has been to produce programmes for All India Radio (AIR). We have been doing spots, ads and jingles for years, and have done a lot of work for the primary channel, what we call `Mumbai A' here. Like this series, `Colgate Sangeet Sitare', which ran for two years. Then there was a series on AIDS, `Swanash', which was broadcast over 30 primary channels in the Hindi belt."

Of course, what most listeners cannot forget is his Behnon aur bhaiyon! refrain on Geetmala. The programme was awarded the Radio Campaign of the Century award by the Advertising Club of Bombay in 1999. And it is the only show to have set up listeners' radio clubs that contribute to the song ratings. These clubs are sought to be revived now that the programme is back on air.

While television has made it challenging to draw people to radio at prime time on Sundays, a drawback for Geetmala is that it has a duration of 20 minutes as against the full hour that listeners were accustomed to. "Well, that is mainly because AIR's rates are so high," Mr Sayani explains. "In fact, before we came on Vividh Bharati this time we had a 13-week run of Geetmala on the primary channel. We switched to Vividh Bharati because this channel asks for lesser rates. Of course, there is talk about the duration being increased but one cannot commit to it yet." Mr Sayani retains faith in the power of radio to do wonders provided its potential is harnessed. "Radio has a vast reach. But if one has to translate this reach into listenership, one has to ensure that the programmes are good and well-knit, and one has to promote the medium. Here is where producers and advertising agencies think AIR falls short."

He continues, "AIR already has a vast music bank; the kind I think even TV channels don't have. But they need to keep adding to it, and feeding their station so it doesn't starve. One has to allow variety and creativity to flourish."

The man whose strength lies in his voice and delivery says the secret of good broadcasting lies in not sounding like one were reading from a prepared script. "Apart from having a command over the spoken language, an announcer needs to sound like he were addressing each listener individually," he says. "I liked Radio Mid-Day on FM because they did not allow any script on the recordings."

His criticism may be valid in certain cases, but Vividh Bharati's announcers are household names all over the country precisely because they have succeeded in eliminating these shortcomings. Names like Kanta Gupta, Brij Bhushan Sharma, Brij Bhushan and Asha Sahni, Kamal Sharma, Renu Bansal, Shehnaz, Yunus Khan and Mamta Singh are idolised by listeners.

Interestingly, despite his detailed analysis of the medium, Mr Sayani seldom listens to radio nowadays. "Of course, I try and catch my own spots and programmes!" he says.





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Here's a listing of the most popular songs in each of these years.
http://bollywoodsoundtracks.com/html/binacageetmala.htm
Binaca Geet Mala
The Binaca Geet Mala, presented by the inimitable Ameen Sayani, was India's most famous music programme. First broadcast by Radio Ceylon in the 1950s, the Binaca Geet Mala ranked popular Bollywood film songs according to sales in select shops in select cities. Although it merely provided a rough indication of the popularity of a song, many stil considered the chart to be very prestigious. Below we list the most popular songs in each year according to the Binaca Geet Mala.

Please note: The Binanca Geet Mala ran from 1953 - 1993. The songs below from 1994 onwards have been selected by BollywoodSoundtracks.com as possible winners had the chart continued.  
Year Song Singers & Music Directors Film
2005 Woh Lamhe Woh Baatein Atif Aslam, Roopkumar Rathod Zeher
2004 Bheege Hont Kunal Ganjawala, Anu Malik Murder
2003 Kal Ho Na Ho Sonu Nigam, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy Kal Ho Na Ho
2002 Saathiya Sonu Nigam, A.R. Rahman Saathiya
2001 Mitwa Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik.., A.R. Rahman Lagaan
2000 Na Tum Jano Na Hum Lucky Ali, Rajesh Roshan Kaho Naa... Pyar Hai
1999 Taal Se Taal Udit Narayan & Alka Yagnik, A.R. Rahman Taal
1998 Chaiyya Chaiyya Sukhwinder Singh, A.R. Rahman Dil Se...
1997 Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaon Abhijeet & Alka Yagnik, Jatin-Lalit Yes Boss
1996 Pardesi Pardesi Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik & Sapna Awasthi, Nadeem-Shravan Raja Hindustani
1995 Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna Lata Mangeshkar & Udit Narayan, Jatin-Lalit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
1994 Didi Tera Devar Deewana Lata Mangeshkar & S.P. Balasubramaniam, Ram Laxman Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
1993 Choli Ke Peeche Ila Arun & Alka Yagnik, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Khalnayak
1992 Maine Pyar Tumhi Se Kumar Sanu & Alka Yagnik, Nadeem-Shravan Phool Aur Kaante
1991 Dekha Hai Pehli Baar S.P. Balasubramaniam & Alka Yagnik, Nadeem-Shravan Saajan
1990 Gori Hai Kalaiyaan Lata Mangeshkar & Shabbir Kumar, Bappi Lahiri Aaj Ka Arjun
1989 My Name Is Lakhan Mohammed Aziz, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Ram Lakhan
1988 Papa Kehte Hain Udit Narayan, Anand-Milind Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
1987 Chitthi Aayi Hai Pankaj Udhas, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Naam
1986 Yashoda Ka Nandlala Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Sanjog
1985 Sun Sahiba Sun Lata Mangeshkar, Ravindra Jain Ram Teri Ganga Maili
1984 Tu Mera Hero Hai Anuradha Paudwal & Manhar Udhas, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Hero
1983 Shayad Meri Shaadi Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Khanna Souten
1982 Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar, Rajesh Roshan Khuddaar
1981 Mere Angane Mein Amitabh Bachchan / Alka Yagnik, Kalyanji-Anandji Lawaaris
1980 Daffliwale Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyare... Sargam
1979 O Saathi Re Kishore Kumar / Asha Bhosle, Kalyanji-Anandji Muqaddar Ka Sikander
1978 Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se Hemlata, Ravindra Jain Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
1977 Husn Hazir Hai Lata Mangeshkar, Madan Mohan Laila Majnu
1976 Kabhi Kabhie Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar, Khaiyyaam Kabhi Kabhie
1975 Aur Nahin Bus Aur Nahin Mahendra Kapoor, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
1974 Mera Jeevan Kora Kagaz Kishore Kumar, Kalyanji-Anandji Kora Kagaz
1973 Yaari Hai Imaan Manna Dey, Kalyanji-Anandji Zanjeer
1972 Dum Maro Dum Asha Bhosle, R.D. Burman Hare Rama Hare Krishna
1971 Zindagi Ek Safar Kishore Kumar / Asha Bhosle, Shanker-Jaikishen Andaz
1970 Bindiya Chamke Gi Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Do Raaste
1969 Kaise Rahoon Chup Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Inteqam
1968 Dil Vil Pyar Vaar Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Shagird
1967 Sawan Ka Mahina Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal Milan
1966 Baharao Phool Barsao Mohammed Rafi, Shanker-Jaikishen Suraj
1965 Jis Dil Mein Basa Mukesh, Kalyanji-Anandji Saheli
1964 Bol Radha Bol Mukesh, Shanker-Jaikishen Sangam
1963 Jo Wada Kiya Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar, Roshan Taj Mahal
1962 Ehsan Tera Hoga Mohammed Rafi / Lata Mangeshkar, Shanker-Jaikishen Junglee
1961 Teri Pyari Pyari Surat Mohammed Rafi, Shanker-Jaikishen Sasuraal
1960 Zindagi Bhar Nahin Mohammed Rafi / Lata Mangeshkar, Roshan Barsaat Ki Ek Raat
1959 Haal Kaisa Hai Janab Ka Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle, S.D. Burman Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi
1958 Hai Apna Dil To Awaara Hemant Kumar, S.D. Burman Solva Saal
1957 Zara Samne To Aao Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar, S.N. Tripath Janam Janam Ke Phere
1956 Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan Mohammed Rafi, O.P. Nayyar C.I.D
1955 Mera Joota Hai Japani Mukesh, Shanker-Jaikishen Shree 420
1954 Man Dole Mera Tan Dole Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar Nagin  
1953 Tu Ganga Ki Mauj Mohammed Rafi, Naushad Baiju Bawra





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Ameen Sayani
Anchor, RED FM  “A Radio Jockey is a mouthpiece of the station; he has to take the burden of representing the right as well as the dark side of the station.”

Ameen Sayani – ‘the golden voice of yesteryears’ – began his radio career in 1951 with Radio Ceylon and later kept millions engrossed with ‘Binaca Geetmala’ on AIR; today he anchors a show on RED FM in addition to producing a number of shows for the network. Sayani has also produced and compered over 54,000 radio programmes and 19,000 jingles during his career.

Besides radio shows, Sayani spearheaded the development of media in the country through the Radio & TV Advertising Practitioners' Association, Advertising Club and Advertising Standards Council of India. Ameen has also won numerous awards for his contribution to Indian media, which includes ‘Golden Abby Award for Outstanding Radio Campaign of the Century’ in 2000 and ‘ISA' Gold Medal for Contribution to Advertising’ in ‘91.

In a tête-à-tête with Jasmeen Dugal, Ameen Sayani shares his learning curve whilst working with Radio Ceylon, how listenership evolved over the past thirty-five years, the varying impact of western influence on Indian tunes and more.


Q.  You worked with Radio Ceylon as a senior producer from 1951–86. What was the learning curve?
A.  In the late forties, I was associated with AIR as a child. When I was about seven years old, I was deeply involved in a number of children’s’ programmes. Back then AIR was among the finest broadcasting organizations in the world, on par with BBC, although it dipped in the fifties for a while. This could be attributed to a number of things – key decisions taken made the impact of AIR lukewarm; film songs were banned and a note of seriousness crept in. AIR was no longer considered easy and breezy.

In the fifties, Radio Ceylon commenced its commercial services in Asia. Film music came back and all programming constrictions were removed. All those who joined Radio Enterprises, the production wing of the Indian agency for Radio Ceylon were allowed to do what they liked in any style that looked good. Of course, no insults or controversies were permitted; as long as we remained within the aegis of a code of conduct, we were given a free rein with the programming. Therefore, all of us developed our own style; there was full scope for creativity and adventurism.

I didn’t stop to look back except when radio per se dipped in India, before the advent of independent radio.  
Q.  What do you think about the impact of western influence on Indian music? How has it changed over the years?
A.  In the early days, western music came in a hybrid fashion, and sounded odd. Music directors were not familiar with the idiom. There were music directors who used huge orchestras, with forty violins in them, without understanding western music at all! The result was often hotchpotch tunes and a lot of noise. But this phase was short-lived. With the arrival of Salil Choudhury and later R. D. Burman, things fell into place. Salil had a good knowledge of the western symphony and R.D. Burman mixed and matched Indian and western music excellently.

Today it’s a different story. Youngsters are adept at the western idiom to the point where they almost forget their traditional music! But not everyone is like that. The new-age singer I most admire is AR Rehman; he has a brilliant style and plays some great Indian music. His music is a marvelous fusion of the East and the West.  
Q.  Is the plagiarism of tunes rampant in India? How does plagiarism of tunes today compare to earlier years?
A.  Plagiarism is an age-old trend, which has only been stepped up now. See, a sargam has seven surs. And you are bound to get similar tunes if you are employing the same raag. Moreover, each musician is ‘inspired’ at some point. In fact, I used to do a programme abroad on plagiarism; of course, we couldn’t call it plagiarism – it was titled ‘Inspirations,’ and was a tongue-in-cheek programme about who had flicked what music from where! While doing that show I discovered that all the greats had lifted tunes from western compositions at some point or the other! ‘Isle of Capri inspired Madan Mohan;’ Nayyar did a take-off on ‘Clementine.’ Naushad too used westernized orchestra in his days, and used it to his advantage.

But plagiarism isn’t necessarily bad. I don't see any harm in being ‘inspired’ by someone else, but the beauty lies in taking another tune and adapting it perfectly to suit the Indian taste; a complete rip-off is bad.  
Q.  Has radio listenership changed over the last thirty—five years? What genre of programming appeals to listeners today?
A.  Yes. Each generation has a way of expressing itself. And each trend is relevant and justified in society. Everything i.e. customs, habits, style etc changes from decade to decade. Each generation brings its own likes, dislikes, ambitions – one has to take the best of the past, mould it for today and take it forward to tomorrow. If you get stuck in archaic thought, you’ll become a stick-in-the-mud; we have to learn how to keep our feet firmly on our heritage and step into the future gracefully.

I have carried this thought on to radio; my focus is on maintaining the then-and-now factor i.e. an appreciation of ‘golden melodies’ and veteran artists in a contemporary programming style. ‘Sangeet ke sitaron ki mehfil,’ my programme on RED FM, is now becoming an hourly programme; the listeners love it and ask for more! It features a nostalgia theme; we have tributes by five great music directors giving interviews on Mohd Rafi after his death. Then we have two programmes on Madan Mohan with tributes by Lata Mangeshkar and Begum Akhtar. In this manner, I have featured a convergence, or rather, confluence of the past and the present, because this is what the discerning listener wants today.  
Q.  What is the basic USP of the runaway hit show ‘Cibaca Geetmala?’
A.  The Geetmala, which was aired from 1952-53 on Radio Ceylon, didn’t rank the songs. It was only in 1954 that Geetmala became a countdown show. Popularity of the song was the main parameter when rating the songs. We got the correct sales figures of the records, and also went by personal voting from listeners. Soon we realized that votes were getting rigged, with people sending in more than one entry in different names. So we stopped the farmaish part and relied only on sales of records. That was foolproof to an extent, because there were only two songs on a record, so the shop-owners knew which songs were doing well on the basis of the demand.

As years progressed, Geetmala gained in credibility and became so reliable that HMV would ask us for an advance list so that they could keep pressing those numbers, and not land in a situation where records were sold out. In the later years, as the programme gained in popularity, we wanted to air it on Vividh Bharati too, but the station wasn’t ready to accept the programme with the same name. It took on the programme only after we changed the name to ‘Cibaca Sangeetmala.’ So it was telecast on two stations, as ‘Cibaca Geetmala’ on Radio Ceylon, and as ‘Cibaca Sangeetmala’ on Vividh Bharati. After the show was discontinued on Radio Ceylon, it was telecast as ‘Cibaca Geetmala’ on Vividh Bharati.

Geetmala ruled for thirty-nine years, after which satellite television came to India, and countdown shows began on television. The show went on till 1994, after which due to dwindling popularity of the radio, it was discontinued after 42 years.  
Q.  What qualities should a Radio Jockey ideally have?
A.  It is very important that a radio jockey should not sound like anybody else; today, all the RJs sound the same. To counter boredom, you must continually keep changing your style. Today all the radio jockeys sound alike, whether they are in RED, Mirchi or City.
Q.  Is a Radio Jockey a support to the station?
A.  Yes. A radio jockey is the public voice of the station. And a mouthpiece has to take the burden of representing the right as well as the dark side of the station. He has to create an atmosphere of warmth to draw in the listeners.
Q.  You have produced innumerable jingles over the years. What, in your opinion, constitutes a good radio jingle?
A.  A good radio jingle is one that has a nice, simple tune that touches the heart and sticks in the mind and conveys the message clearly, without any ambiguity. So a good jingle should embody clarity, appeal, simplicity and of course, attractiveness.
Q.  Which is your favorite jingle till date?
A.  My favorite jingles are the station jingles I produced in Fiji islands. The station was Radio Navtarang. The jingles had just a touch of the west and featured two singers. And went on to become a rage. Down the line, the station told me, ‘We’ll keep playing the old jingle, but we want another mod one,’ so I produced another one for them.
Q.  So what does the future hold?
A.  Well, hopefully I’ll continue broadcasting…





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Reliving the Geetmala lore
  
Binaca Geetmala, the mother of all countdown shows, is a part of Hindi film music lore. And music buffs of the earlier generation, as well as the film industry, still swear by it. When it began in the 1950s, it was the only parameter to gauge the success of a film song. Ameen Sayani, founder member and president of RAPA (Radio & Television Advertising Practitioner’s Association), who compered the show to success, tells us about its origin and popularity....

Binaca Geetmala, which later became Cibaca Geetmala, and again changed to Colgate Geetmala, was the first countdown programme on radio for Hindi film songs. I have been associated with it right from the first instalment, and it was modelled on the format of numerous international countdown shows featuring Western numbers. The first programme was telecast at the end of 1952, on Radio Ceylon. Those were the days of Mahal, Nagin, Udan Khatola, when melody ruled the roost, and the show caught on in a big way. Every week, on Wednesdays, from 8 to 9 pm poeple were glued to the radio.

“The Geetmala which was aired from 1952-53 didn’t rank the songs. It only played seven hit songs, without rating them. It was only in 1954 that Geetmala became a countdown show. I remember vividly that in 1954, the topper of the first countdown show was Talat Mahmood’s Jayen to jayen kahan.

“Popularity of the song was the main parameter when rating the songs. We got the correct sales figures of the records, and also went by personal voting from listeners. Soon we realised that votes were getting rigged, with people sending in more than one entry in different names. So we stopped the farmaish part and relied only on sales of records. That was fool-proof to an extent, because there were only two songs on a record, so the shop-owners knew which songs were doing well on the basis of the demand.

“Even then, as a safe-keeping measure, and to double-check, we formed radio clubs of dedicated listeners, who would write to us every week and give us their feedback. The parameter of sale of records proved to be a handicap sometimes. Like, if a song was a runaway hit, the records would be sold out. If the records sold out, it would show no sales figures till the time new records were supplied to the shop. So the feedback we would get is that no records were selling, which would affect the rating of a song. That’s where our radio clubs came in handy and proved to be an accurate system.

“As years progressed, Geetmala gained in credibility and became so reliable that the Gramophone Company Ltd. i.e HMV, the main music company supplying records then, would ask us for an advance list so that they could keep pressing those numbers, and not land in a situation where records were sold out.

“In the later years, as the programme gained in popularity, we wanted to air it on Vividh Bharati too, but the station wasn’t ready to accept the programme with the same name. It took on the programme only after we changed the name to Cibaca Sangeetmala from Cibaca Geetmala. So it was telecast on two stations, as Cibaca Geetmala on Radio Ceylon, and as Cibaca Sangeetmala, of half-an-hour duration, on Vividh Bharati. After the show was discontinued on Radio Ceylon, it was telecast as Cibaca Geetmala on Vividh Bharati.

“Cibaca Geetmala caught on in a big way in a matter of time. It was the absolute barometer for Hindi film music. So much so that the remuneration of a music director was on the basis of whether his songs featured in the Geetmala.

“The best music on the show was heard in the late 50s and 60s, since that was the golden period of Hindi film music. Shanker-Jaikishan were ruling then. There were other good music directors too, who, though were compsoing good songs, were not doing that well. Now these composers complained to the film industry leaders that Cibaca Geetmala was ruining their careers and wanted it to be discontinued. We took their complaint into consideration and for one year Geetmala didn’t announce the ratings of the songs, just playing it in popularity order, without rating it as number one, two or three.

“After sometime we realised this had no meaning and the essence of the show was lost. We told the film industry leaders that knocking out the ratings was not helping anybody, and decided on continuing with the ratings. We suggested that the film industry appoint an ombudsman who would approve the ratings and ensure that they were accurate. G.P. Sippy, the then president of IMPPA, was the first ombudsman. After that B.R. Chopra and Shreeram Bohra were together appointed ombudsmen. Every week, I had to go to them, show them the ratings and get their signature to prove that there was no bias.

“Geetmala ruled for 39 years, after which satellite television came to India, and countdown shows began on TV. Superhit Muqabla was the first countdown show on TV, and as televison caught on, it affected Geetmala. The show went on till 1994, after which due to dwindling popularity of the radio, it was discontinued after 42 years.

“In the 42 years that I have been associated with the programme, I witnessed the different trends in film music. And what I gauged was that Indian film music always reflects the mood of the current social norm. Just as the world changes, the Indian film music changes.

“The music scene in Hindi films has always been rich. When sound in film was introduced, you had some great singers like K.L. Saigal, Khurshid, composer-singer Pankaj Mullick, singing-stars Noorjehan and Suraiya, all of whom had a distinct style of their own. Then came Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Shamshad Begum. They belonged to the golden period, which began from the early 50s and lasted till 1975. We got to hear some excellent music, with some of the best composers, singers and lyricists on the scene. Then we had Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R.D. Burman, who ruled in the middle period. After they eased out, came Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri.

“Today you have some good music directors, but the scene is not like before. Just like in films, where violence and S** is the order of the day, in music too it is dhoom dhadaka and Western beats. Some who did not know the idiom of Western music dished out trash, while those like R.D. Burman mixed the East with West to advantage. His music in his swan-song 1942 - A Love Story was so very Indian, yet it had an international feel to it. Among todays’ composers Nadeem-Shravan, A.R. Rahman, Anu Malik are promising. One thing’s for sure, music will never wear out, it will go on and on. Everytime there’s a slump, somebody comes up to revive it.

“Radio did get affected with television, namely satellite channels. It’s a new khilona and has become popular on its visual strength. Nowhere in the world, except India, did the radio die. Here too, in small pockets it’s very much alive. Actually, a radio is more powerful than TV because it does not chain you down. The variety and stock of music that radio can give, TV cannot, because TV needs visuals. The greatest advantage of radio is half the work is done by the listener. Whatever words you convey on radio, each listener translates them into a mental picture which he fills with his own texture, and interpret its sounds his own way. Radio is a cheaper medium with much less time required to produce programmes.

“Radio can be revived provided it is handled well. The need of the hour is new programmes on new stations. My first love is radio and I’ll keep working for it.”





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

His Master's Voice
  
  The velvety voice is back. Before he picks up the microphone all over again - same time, same station - Ameen Sayani takes a trip down memory lane with Mohammed Wajihuddin.

The second floor of Cecill Court, an old building near Regal cinema at Colaba, reverberates with an extremely familiar voice, uttering "Hello...testing...testing". A door prominently displays 'Sayani'. And one knows it couldn't be anyone else but the father of radio broadcasting (or DJ-ing, if that's what it could be called now)... Ameen Sayani. It's his small, swanky studio and the man is in control.

The golden voice is at it again. Sayani is recording Colgate Cibaca Geetmala, a weekly countdown, which goes on air from 22 stations of Vividh Bharati at 9.00 pm every Sunday. Unlike novices who fumble with words before the microphone, the master broadcaster thrives on staccato. Only when he is through with his recording can one prompt him to talk. Colgate Cibaca Geetmala was first Geetmala on Radio Ceylon, then Binaca Geetmala and later Cibaca Geetmala on Vividh Bharati. What is its new avatar' "It used to be a one-hour countdown show of hit Hindi film songs. Now we present a mix of old and new numbers in just 20 minutes. We try to slip in some interesting information about stars on whom a particular song has been picturised," Sayani says. "We have to change with time. If we have been given 20 minutes, we have to accommodate ourselves."

Sayani surely knows how to accept new challenges. In 1952, when All India Radio banned Hindi film music, Sayani turned to Radio Ceylon. His weekly countdown became so popular that in villages people would ensure that the radio sets they bought could tune in to Radio Ceylon. "Hindi film music was a powerful medium. It attracted people from all backgrounds," he says. And Geetmala certainly played a vital role in popularising this music. It became the index of a song's success. It was mentioned in films as well - like this scene in Abhimaan, where Asrani tells Amitabh Bachchan that his songs are played on Geetmala. Many people in the music industry tried to influence Sayani, but he never succumbed to any pressure. "I told them that the programme's credibility would go the day we lowered our guards and compromised on the method of deciding ratings," he says. And there are two sources whom he falls back on for ratings around 200 radio clubs and sales figures from cassette and video shops.

But the aggrieved were not convinced. Once a delegation of music directors went to the office of Cibaca Company and complained that they would lose their bread and butter if Geetmala didn't stop broadcasting the ratings of different songs. "For a year, we didn't tell people which paudaan (popularity chart) different songs had reached. But in our annual ratings, we disclosed it. Finally, we had to revert to our old system of ratings," he says.

But what was it about Geetmala and Sayani' Why did it click' Independent India was mesmerised by the magic of the like of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Suraiyaa. It was the golden era of Hindi film music, when lyricists like Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri wrote some hauntingly beautiful numbers. So when Sayani played Mohammed Rafi's Maine chand aur sitaron ki tamanna ki thi, mujhko raaton ki seyahi (darkness) ke siwa kuch na mila from the film Chandrakanta, people stopped. And when he played Lata Mangeshkar's Aeji roothkar ab kahan jaayega from Arzoo, it was lapped up instantly.

People would wait for Sayani's weekly rendezvous, almost always opening with Bahno-bhaiyon, Geetmala mein apka swagat hai. He was flooded with letters, many of them from school children. A child once wrote: 'Ameen uncle, you have travelled all over, which country is the most beautiful'' 'Undoubtedly, India', said Sayani, winning many more admirers. Geetmala spawned a number of Sayani's clones who tried to imitate him. "I don't know whether they succeeded in their attempts or not, but it hasn't harmed me at all. I speak simple Hindustani, the language I picked up in the marketplace, even though I am more proficient in English," says Sayani, who had initially joined his elder brother Hamid Sayani in English broadcasting at All India Radio.

And the fact that Geetmala is back means that television is no threat to radio. "Radio's reach is vast. However, what has come in the way of the growth of this medium is bureaucratic interference. But commercial broadcasting will always have a market," he says, ending on an optimistic note.





____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

Piali Banerjee in conversation with Ameen Sayani

 

The author is a Mumbai based freelance writer.

 

Here's an honest confession. You do not expect someone whose tryst with music began 65 years ago on a home-made crystal radio set and whose taste was honed on K. L. Sehgal and Pankaj Mallick, to tap his feet sportingly to current Indipop. You expect censure (at modernity) and nostalgia (for the good old days).

 

The nostalgia is there, of course. His eyes mist over with it when he rates the pre-Independence years as the "golden era" of Hindi film music. But not once during the one-hour conversation does Ameen Sayani sit in judgment on any music or any lyrics of any era. "Each generation has a way of expressing itself, of showing its enthusiasm and burning its energy," he reasons. "And each trend is relevant and justified in society."

 

Rather than old or modern, folksy or westernised, Sayani would prefer to classify the musical ages into pre-playback and post-playback, having had the experience of wading through loads of music of both genres, when he first started the now legendary Binaca Geet Mala for Radio Ceylon in 1952. "There's a lot of difference between the pre and post-playback eras," he says. "Pre-playback music was often raucous for not all the actors and actresses could sing. And if one follows the career graph of Anil Biswas (whom I would call the Bhishma Pitamaha of Indian music) it is easy to see the difference between the two eras. His best years of creativity came through when he got singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Talat Mahmood to playback for him. That was the time, in the mid-forties, when music really became music."

 

In this era, he lists the five "seniormost creators of most fascinating music" as Anil Biswas, C. Ramachandran, Roshan, Madan Mohan and S. D. Burman. Followed by the "soulful" Khayaam and Jaidev and the "more lively" Shankar-Jaikishen, O. P. Nayyar and Salil Choudhury. After whom, music took on the colours of "pop" with R. D. Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, etc.

 

"From the mid-forties to the mid-seventies, there was a coming together of the greats," he remarks. "Not just in music direction but also in lyric writing - with Sahir Ludhianvi, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, et al. They all worked together to create a great cultural upsurge. And the only reason I can find for this is that it was the era in which all Indians were fired by the idea of moving into freedom. The national struggle and the gaining of Independence led to a spurt of creativity. Simply because everyone was proud to be an Indian and did their work with passion and depth. The team spirit emerged strong at that time, with very little time for individual jealousies. And it showed in our music."

 

As far as the influence of western music on Indian tunes goes, Sayani shrugs and says that it is an age-old trend which has only been stepped up now. A trend which can be traced back to Pankaj Mallick's famous "Piya milan ko jaana". Where the words talk about a girl gently tiptoeing across to meet her beloved, but the tune is a typically westernised marching tune, complete with drumbeats!

 

"Naushad too used westernised orchestra in his days, and used it to his advantage," he adds. "But later, there were music directors who used huge orchestras, with 40 violins in them, without understanding western music at all! The result was often hotchpotch tunes and a lot of noise... But this phase was short-lived. For with the arrival of Salil Choudhury and later R. D. Burman, things fell into place. Salil had good knowledge of the western symphony and R.D. mixed and matched Indian and western music excellently."

 

The first real "pop" song in Hindi films came with Nazia Hassan's "Aap jaisa koi" in "Qurbani". A song which took youngsters and the music industry by storm. "Elders like us, of course, found it a little odd initially. But later, I realised that the more I heard the song, the more I liked it too!" laughs Sayani.

 

Today non-film pop music is a rage and film music is facing popular competition for the first time - the result of the popularity of television and the growing importance of the visual aspect of music. The early birds in this trend being Usha Uthup and Sharon Prabhakar, who unfortunately didn't reap as much as they sowed because of being ahead of their time.

 

And now to the burning question of the day - how does plagiarism of tunes today compare to earlier years?In reply, he narrates the famous joke about an assistant rushing up to the late Kalyanji and asking him to sue a composer who had taken one of his tunes. Kalyanji's reply was classic. He said that he couldn't possibly sue the composer since he himself had taken the tune from someone else.

 

"Finally, there are seven notes and so many combinations of these notes," continues Sayani. "So all music directors take 'inspiration', from those before them, or elsewhere. I once did a show called Inspirations, which was a tongue-in-cheek programme about who had ficked what music from where! While doing that show I had discovered that everyone, from Madan Mohan to S. D. Burman to Shankar-Jaikishen to all the other greats, has merrily taken tunes from western compositions at some point or the other. Including Naushad... So I don't see any harm in being inspired by someone else, but the beauty lies in taking another tune and adapting it perfectly to suit the Indian taste."

 

If there was a decade in the Eighties when quality of music went down and lyrics turned mundane, Sayani blames it on the times. "That was the time when society was disillusioned and angry and films turned violent and sexy. So music had to suffer too," he says. "Songs then had to be more powerful than melodious. But now love and romance and melody are back. And that's a good sign."

 

There is a post-script to the happy ending, of course. Ameen Sayani sincerely wishes that the trend of "remix" will disappear soon - it being the one and only modern trend that happens to invite his censure.

____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.

____________
"I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.