AMEEN’S “FLAGSHIP” PROGRAMME, HIS FIRST BIG STEP IN RADIO SHOW PRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION :
“GEET MALA”
The initial half-hour "Geetmala" began as an experimental weekly jackpot show based on a random selection of songs. It dropped into Ameen’s lap only because other leading broadcasters declined it. For all of Rs. 25 a week, he was required to select the songs, produce, script and compere the programme, and also process the mail.
The mail-response competition required every letter to be checked, and hardly 40-50 letters were expected. The first episode brought 9,000 ! Within a year, that number touched 60,000 per week. The show, and the station, both began ruling the Asian airwaves - but Ameen was fast becoming a nervous wreck managing the mail response with a mini-group of volunteers! Fortunately, the competition was shelved in 1954, and was replaced by a 1-hour countdown hit-parade.
The new format became a rage in no time, drawing an estimated nine to twelve crore (90 to 120 million) listeners from all over Asia, and even from East Africa, with its powerful Short Wave sweep. "That was the golden period of film music”, Ameen reminisces. “The songs were not only fabulous, but also helped in integrating our huge, intricately multi-lingual nation. Everyone loved Hindi film songs, and everyone was latched onto Geetmala and Radio Ceylon – particularly because the gigantic network of All-India Radio had suddenly decided to totally ban Hindi film music in the early fifties!"
IN 1977, GEETMALA CELEBRATED ITS SILVER JUBILEE WITH A GRAND STAR-STUDDED STAGE SHOW. Almost all the great playback singers, music composers and lyricists of that era attended, and were treated to a visual hit-parade of twenty-five super-hit songs.
The commentary (by Ameen) of the two special Geetmala Jubilee LP discs also contained the fascinating story of the birth and growth of the radio hit-parade. And the cover of Volume II featured photographs of many of the luminaries who had attended the Jubilee function – including filmstars and veterans such as Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt, B.R. Chopra, Ramanand Sagar, Shriram Bohra, D.N. Madhok and P.L. Santoshi.
Sayani ran the programme to record-smashing success for nearly 45 years, earning a place among the world's top broadcasters.
Shown above is the Silver Jubilee LP cover of the first volume
Golden Abby
| In 2000 GEETMALA was awarded the Advertising Club’s Golden Abby Award for being adjudged the most outstanding Radio Campaign of the Century. |
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GEETMALA’s 42nd BIRTHDAY CELEBERATED ON TV!
In 1994, the sponsors of GEETMALA asked Ameen to present a series of special “retrospect” shows on television to mark its 42nd anniversary. 31 half-hour episodes were telecast on Doordarshan’s metro channels in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, etc. The series was co-produced by Rajil Sayani. Ayesha Sayani (a celebrated short-film maker) directed some of the episodes.