Nadeem Baig (actor)


Mirza Nazeer Baig, better known by his stage name Nadeem Baig is a Pakistani actor, singer and producer. Since the beginning of his career in 1967, he has appeared in over two hundred films and has won various awards, including the 1997 Pride of Performance award.

Early life

Baig was born in Vijayawada in modern Andhra Pradesh which, in 1941, was part of Madras Presidency in British India. Nadeem Baig migrated to Pakistan along with his family after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. He finished his high school and attended some years of college in Karachi before he entered the film industry.
Nadeem, along with artistes Talat Hussain, M. Zaheer Khan, Aftab Azeem, Saleem Jafry, and TV producer Iqbal Haider, were all discovered at a club in Karachi in the 1960s. He and his friends, Ameer Ahmed Khan and Qasim Siddiqui, won several music competitions. At one of those musical competitions, he was noticed by singer Ferdausi Rahman. She was impressed by his singing talent and encouraged him to try playback singing in Dhaka's film industry.

Career

Nadeem’s film career spans more than 50 years in 2019. He started his career in 1967 and appeared in his first film Chakori in a leading role with actress Shabana. The film was produced and directed by Captain Ehtesham, who, in real life, became his father-in-law in 1968 when Nadeem married Farzana, Ehtesham's daughter. The film did well in both circuits of Pakistani film industry, i.e., West and East Pakistan. He won a Nigar Award in the best actor's category for Chakori. Nadeem's films include Nadan, Anari, Pehchan, Talash, Aina, Hum Dono, Lajawab, Qurbani, Sangdil, and Dehleez. He made a popular screen pairing with actress Shabnam with whom he acted in most of his films. Besides acting, Nadeem has sung many songs for films. Nadeem has worked with veteran film directors of Pakistani film industry including Pervez Malik, Nazrul Islam, S. Suleman, Shamim Ara, Sangeeta and Samina Peerzada. Among the well-known actors, he has worked with Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Waheed Murad, Allauddin and Syed Kamal over his long career.

Playback singers

In his career, Nadeem is mostly voiced by Ahmed Rushdi and latter Akhlaq Ahmed provided his voice. He himself acknowledged that songs in Rushdi's voice made his work easier and played a significant role in his success. Other playback singers who provided voice for him were Mehdi Hassan, Masood Rana, Mujeeb Aalam, Asad Amanat Ali Khan, Bashir Ahmad, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and A Nayyar.

Select filmography

Awards and recognition