Mohideen Baig

[5] Born on 5 December 1919 in Salem[6] South India as the third of the family, Baig belonged to an Indian tribe called Pathan.

[5] He returned Sri Lanka (then as Ceylon) due to untimely death of his brother Aziz by a boat accident in 1931.

They had 8 children, which include 5 sons – Usman, Haider, Mubarak, Ishaq and Ilyas; and 3 girls – Rabia, Salima and Moina.

[9] During Baig's arrival, he met another Indian Mohammed Gauss, who was born in South India and came to Sri Lanka.

Around that time, Beg was inspired to sing Sinhala songs composed to Hindi tunes at the request of Gauss Master and U.D.

[7] Later, he made several playback duets with songstress and actress Rukmani Devi for the films Iranganie, Mathabedhaya, Perakadoru Bena and Daivayogaya.

[5] Meanwhile he sang Buddhist devotional music and achieved fame with songs such as Buddham Saranam, Maayaa, Giri Hel Mudune, Aadara Nadiya Gala, Pem Mal Maala, Wella Simbina Rella, Anna Sudo, Thaniwai Upanne, and Loke Sihinayak Wageya.

This movie was dubbed in Sinhala dialogues and Mohideen Baig sang the popular song Buddham Saranam previously sung by Indian singer Manna Dey.

[14] For the film Sujatha, he playback songs Narilatha Pushpe, Prema Gange Menik and Mayawathi Me Loke were highly popularized.

He is also the only Sri Lankan to duet with Lata Mangeshkar in the film Seda Sulang for the song "Idiriyata Yamu Sawoma".

[9] Baig was an indispensable artist in Sinhala cinema at that time where his voice brought great grandeur to the creation.

[12] On 14 July 2018, The University Arts Association has decided to hold a national commemoration ceremony to mark the first birth centenary of Mohideen Baig.

[17] On 20 February 2020, a commemorative stamp was issued in memory of Baig at the Postal Headquarters under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.