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, theUK 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.