SANJU IS HAJI MASTAN!!

SANJU IS HAJI MASTAN!!
(NSI News Source Info) August 2, 2008: Sanjay Dutt, who portrayed the negative characters in bollywood flicks like Khalnayak with élan, is all set to enact the role of underworld don Haji Mastan in Milan Luthria’s upcoming venture ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai.’
Sanjay has been chosen for the role of Haji Mastan as the gangster had not only ruled the streets of Mumbai in the 1970s but also had influence in bollywood and produced some films.
The film will portray the condition of Mumbai at the time when organized crime and violence had been introduced by the gangsters and ordinary people were terrified to even walk in the city during nights.Besides Sanjay Dutt, who will essay the character of Haji Mastan, two other actors are yet to be finalized for the role of Karim Lala and Varadrajan.
It was these three gangsters—Haji Mastan, Karim Lala and Varadrajan—who were instrumental in the seventies in bringing the organized mafia to the metropolis. And so to present a complete picture, these two characters also become important.
While Haji Mastan ruled the underworld of Mumbai during late sixties and mid- seventies, it was Karim Lala, born in Afghanistan, who is considered to be the true founder of Mafia in Mumbai city.
Lala’s gang was involved in the smuggling of Jewellery, running gambling dens and extortion rackets. The third of these, Varadrajan Muniswami Mudaliar, had come to Bombay from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, but became actively involved in the underworld of Mumbai in the seventies and eighties. However, his terror ended with his death in late eighties in Madras.
However, this effort to make a film based on these three gangsters is nothing new and a few films had been made in the past too.
For instance, it is said that Amitabh Bachchan starrer film ‘Deewar’ was loosely based on the life story of dreaded gangster Haji Mustan. Big B had meticulously learned the mannerism of the don to portray it realistically in the film. Similarly, Tamil film ‘Nayakan’ was said to be based on the life history of underworld don Varadrajan Mudaliar.
In addition to the terror created by these gangsters, the film will also portray the cabaret culture of the seventies in the film. It was the most popular thing in the night life of Bombay during those days and could be seen in almost every other movie of that time. Helen was the cabaret diva of the period and valued highly for her dancing prowess.
Sanjay Dutt’s film is being produced by Suniel Shetty’s Popcorn Entertainment and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms jointly and is likely to go on the floors soon after the finalization of other cast members.