When Ameen Sayani explained the reason behind ‘punch style’ used by old school RJs

Mumbai: Ameen Sayani, the iconic radio personality, had once revealed how the “punch style” of rendering the voice on radio became a norm. An old video of the late radio legend has surfaced on the Internet, and it shows him explaining that the “dhoom, dhadaka” style of radio announcements and programs was born out of necessity.

He said in the video, “In the beginning, the style of dhoom, dhadaka, this and that, which is called the ‘punch style’, was there because it had a reason. Our recording used to happen in our college, St. Xavier’s College which also had a radio technical institute. The studio was not soundproofed properly”.

In college obviously all of the students used to make a lot of noise, they still do. So, because the soundproofing of that studio was not good, the recorder used to tell us, ‘look, there is a lot of noise outside. We keep the volume of the fader a little less. You shout’. So, in this way, we got used to shouting. That became the style. Yes. But, after that, when the equipment became better, the studio too improved. The tape was good, the transmission was good, so, the sound kept changing”, he added.

Ameen Sayani, passed away at the age of 91 due to cardiac failure. The doctors at the hospital tried to treat him but he was declared dead after the revival attempts didn’t yield a positive result. Ameen had been suffering from high blood pressure and other age-related ailments for some time.

He achieved huge popularity through his radio program ‘Geetmala’ which has gone down as a milestone in India’s radio landscape. His captivating voice and engaging style spelled a cast at the listeners cultivating fans across the country, and popularised the medium of radio which got a further boost in early 2000s as the dotcom bubble burst. His signature way of addressing listeners as “Behno aur Bhaiyo” (sisters and brothers) became instantly recognisable and widely imitated.

His voice has also been imitated in the song ‘Tamma Tamma Again’ from the Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan-starrer ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’.

IANS