What the hell is this Binaca Geel Mala?
The first question that raised in your mind after reading the title of
this post. Actually people of our generation do not know much about this
one of the most popular radio shows of its times. Yeah I am right.
Binaca Geetmala was a popular weekly radio countdown show of top filmy
songs from Indian cinema listened by millions of Hindi music lovers,
that used to broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1953 to 1993. It was commenced over the Commercial
Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon from 03. 12. 1952 to 04. 04. 1994. After 1988 , it
was shifted to All India Radio's Vividh Bharati network. The show got its name form its sponsor. The show was first
called BINACA GEETMALA, then CIBACA GEETMALA, later CIBACA
SANGEETMALA and thereafter COLGATE CIBACA GEETMALA.
The program first started as half an hour show every wednesday
from 8.00 to 8.30 pm and used to play seven
contemporary songs. After the shows success, since 1954 the program started broadcasting
from 8.00 to 9.00 pm, played sixteen songs, ranking them from number (Paydaan) 16th to 1st according to their popularity. The popularity of the songs
was decided on the basis of sales of gramophone records in selected shops in
selected cities. Although it merely provided a rough indication of the
popularity of a song, many still considered the chart to be very prestigious .
It is considered as the first radio countdown show of Indian film songs,
and has been quoted as being the most popular radio program in India
during its broadcast. The show was hosted by Ameen Sayani. The
program used to start with the most famous quotes "Bhaiyo aur
Bahano..... Amin Sayani ka pyarbhara Namaskar!!!". He was the most popular radio
anchor in India. Sayani ran the programme to record-smashing success for
nearly 45 years, earning a place among the world’s top broadcasters. He
was the man with the gravelly voice and stylized drawl, through this
show became a household name in India.
Mr. Amin Sayani said “For all of Rs. 25, I was required to select the
songs, produce, script and compare the programme, and also sort the
mail. The programme involved a competition and we expected 40-50
letters.
The first episode brought 9,000. Within a year, that number
touched 60,000. We had to shelve the competition and introduce a
countdown show.”
We are going to present the top filmi songs of this golden era of Binaca Geetmala. So Stay Tuned....
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