Late smuggler Haji Mastan's 'foster son' threatens superstar Rajinikanth

New Delhi: In a letter sent to Rajnikanth, Sunder Shekhar, foster son of gangster Haji Mastan, has warned the Tamil superstar not to misinterpret facts about the smuggler’s life in an upcoming movie. Shekhar, a self-proclaimed adopted son of Haji, has sent a legal notice to the Thalaivar warning him not to portray his ‘father’ in a bad light. Shekhar who also runs a local party - Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh - from Nagpada in Mumbai had also released a video in which he had threatened Rajinikanth saying that if Mastan's image is tarnished in the movie then he has to ‘deal with the consequences.’ “It is appreciated that you are making a movie on Haji Mastan. T​he movie must be real account of Haji Mastan’s story that should depict his name and fame. If there is any objectionable element in the movie, members of our party will not spare you. If you want, we are ready to co-operate in the making of the movie,” Shekhar said in the video. The movie is tentatively titled, ‘Thalaivar 161’ Haji Mastan Profile:

• Maastan Haider Mirza, popularly known as Haji Mastan, Bawa /Sultan Mirza (1 March 1926 - 9 May 1994) was an smuggler, films financer and real estate businessman.

 

• He was a Tamil Muslim who got into to the smuggling business in Mumbai for almost 20 years.

 

• Reports say Mastan worked as a coolie in the Bombay docks from where Muslims left for Haj. At the docks he formed alliances with smugglers. It was Deewar — the hero of the film was loosely based on Mastan — that turned him into a legend. The myth grew when he was jailed during the Emergency. When he was released, he promised political activist Jai Prakash Narayan that he would give up smuggling.

 

• Ekta Kapoor’s Once Upon a Time in Mumbai had upset the family members of the Mastan family as they believed the plot was loosely based on his life. It purportedly showed his relationship with don Dawood Ibrahim.

 

• Mastan was friendly with a lot of Bollywood celebrities like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Feroz Khan and Sanjeev Kumar.