The Outlaws of Bombay (EP02): Haji Mastan

Mastan Mirza, famously called Haji Mastan , is arguably called the biggest name in the smuggling industry of Bombay, who rose from extreme poverty to a city revolving around him is really something not so regular and one would need a case study on how a person with such serious allegations went to become a public servant through politics and also produced films.

Born in 1926 in Madras Presidency, Haji Mastan originally known as Mastan Haider Mirza at the age of 8 migrated with his father to Mumbai. The father son duo ran a small cycle repairing shop in Crawford market which wasn’t enough to feed the family. 10 years later in the year 1944, Bawa joined Bombay docks as a porter and this changed his life forever.

He worked in association with Karim Lala and by the 1960s he became a rich man. He even started financing his money in Bollywood and became a film producer. Amitabh Bachchan whose character in Deewar was influenced by Mastan met him personally along with Salim. Being a film producer he had good relations with many of the stars of the yesteryears such as Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Firoze Khan and even Sanjeev Kumar.
Very early in his career, Mastan realised the importance of being seen among famous personalities from politics and the film industry as a symbol of power. Therefore, he deliberately hobnobbed among the city's rich and famous and was frequently seen with Bollywood personalities at public functions. Mastan was arguably the most influential mafia don of his time.
At his peak, Mastan operated a powerful smuggling syndicate to Mumbai and along the Gujarat coast and later diversified into film financing and real estate business. Mastan was known to be a shrewd businessman and a cunning deal-maker. He always maintained friendly relations with the police and government officials and often promoted peace between rival gangs, and was good friends with Lala and Mudaliar.
Haji Mastan was not a dreaded don because never in his life he had killed anyone or shot a bullet on another. But you cannot deny the fact that he was a mobster and was a big time smuggler who reigned for 20 years. Though Haji Mastan wasn’t a dreadful criminal he gave birth to all the dreadful gangsters, especially Dawood Ibrahim who became his successor and changed the face of the Indian Mafia once and for all.
The likes of modern-day gangsters – Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan, Chhota Shakeel, Arun Gowli – were all trained by Haji Mastan. He taught them the nitty-gritties of international smuggling, a craft he was a master at. He always asked them to stay away from ending human lives, through drugs, guns or any other means.
Responsible for hundreds of deaths, collectively, they were the mutants of his class. Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan, and Chhota Shakeel have built their empires through fear of death. Their lieutenants did the actual killings.
Haji Mastan fell madly in love with the famous Bollywood actress, Sona, and married her. He adored her so much that he even financed a few movies for her, and gifted her a bungalow situated near actor Dev Anand’s house, in Juhu.

After leaving smuggling behind, Haji Mastan entered politics and floated ‘Laghumati Muslim Dal’. He owned a huge mansion in the posh locality off Peddar Road, opposite Sophia College. He joined hands with anti-drug abuse activists like Dr. Yusuf Merchant and implored the youth to stay away from killer drugs.
He died due to cardiac arrest in 1994!
Read more: The Outlaws Of Bombay (EP03): Karim Lala
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