141:, he began his criminal life by stealing dock cargo. Varada, as he was fondly called, was hugely popular among the poor Tamil residents in the Dharavi slums. He used the massive Dharavi slums as a safe haven to expand his criminal activities into an underworld empire of extortion, kidnapping, contract killing, land encroachment, illegal gambling and liquor dens, manufacturing illicit liquor and bootlegging. Varada had total control over the distribution racket of illicit liquor.
148:, Varadarajan emerged as a powerful contender in the Mumbai underworld. Varadarajan ran a parallel judicial system within the Tamil community in his strongholds. Starting the 1980s, police officer Y.C. Pawar targeted Varadarajan Mudaliar. Most of his gang members were eliminated or imprisoned. His illegal gambling and liquor dens were closed down and finally by the end of 1983, Varadarajan was forced to abandon his underworld empire and flee from Mumbai to Tamil Nadu.
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186:
pandal was served an eviction notice at the behest of the police in the mid-1980s. This was also the time when most members of his gang were jailed or eliminated, forcing him to flee Bombay for Madras, where he led a retired life until his demise in
January 1988, following a heart attack.
195:
plane for last rites as per Varda's wishes . Many people mourned his death. Life came to a standstill in
Dharavi, Matunga and Sion Koliwada when his body was flown into the city. Varadarajan's dear friend, Selva, was with him throughout his adult life, until his death.
465:: "When he died of a heart attack on 2 January, Haji Mastan – underworld king from whom he allegedly inherited a vast smuggling operation – flew to Madras to accompany his body to Bombay in a chartered Indian Airlines jet."
634:
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138:
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693:
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1024:
179:
celebrations were quite famous and visited by celebrities. However, after the collapse of the cotton mills in Mumbai in the mid-1980s, their relevance ended.
54:
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199:
A daughter, Mahalakshmi, died of suffocation in a fire at her home at age 50, along with her husband, Hemachander, in 2010 at
Pattinapakkam, Chennai.
644:
521:
475:
144:
In the early 1980s, after Haji Mastan gave up his smuggling operations and Karim Lala's Pathan gang was weakened by a split between Samad Khan and
1009:
686:
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562:
33:
249:
537:
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282:, which was based on the Mumbai underworld activities, holds resemblance to Varadarajan with the character's name being the same.
1217:
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district of Tamil Nadu, from where his father migrated to
Tuticorin to work in shipping business. He was born in
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176:
821:
317:, the character of Vardhan played by Ravi Khanvilkar was inspired by Varadarajan Mudaliar.
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32:
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During the period of
Varadarajan's fading influence, his hugely popular
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of
Bismillah Shah Baba and kept the tradition up as his fortunes rose.
1121:
572:
168:
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72:
675:
343:
portrayed a character mainly extracted from
Varadarajan's life.
109:, one of the most powerful mob bosses in Bombay. His origin is
160:, Varadarajan began offering food to the poor at the nearby
137:
in 1926 He moved to Mumbai in 1945. Working as a porter at
635:"Amitabh Bachchan recalls the old dons of Bombay of yore"
330:'s character is mainly extracted from Varadarajan's life.
225:
played a character called
Varadarajan of Dogharbhatti in
101:. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, he was, along with
289:
stated that he modeled his dialogues and mannerisms in
538:"Ex-mumbai don's daughter killed in a fire accident"
504:
1043:
1030:
Puducherry
Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act
1002:
961:
935:
754:
709:
61:
39:
23:
244:, which was loosely based on Varadarajan's life.
89:(9 October 1926 – 2 January 1988), also known as
308:portrayed Varadarajan as Varadarajan Vaandaiyar.
492:
1025:Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crimes Act
687:
8:
555:Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of Mumbai Mafia
1208:Indian people convicted of money laundering
476:"Don's daughter, son in-law killed in fire"
462:
269:as a North Indian iteration of Varadarajan.
1020:Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act
694:
680:
672:
191:brought his body to Mumbai in a chartered
31:
20:
1015:Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act
214:, the character of Rama Shetty played by
622:"'Of course Velu Nayakan doesn't dance'"
379:
248:portrayed Varadarajan and received the
1147:Indian politicians convicted of crimes
1010:Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act
1035:Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act
7:
356:was inspired by Varadarajan's life.
208:In the highly acclaimed 1983 film,
272:One of the characters in the 1991
250:National Film Award for Best Actor
14:
422:
410:
398:
386:
218:was loosely based on Varadarajan.
87:Sathuvachari Varadarajan Mudaliar
1136:
1135:
745:
352:, where the lead role played by
505:Times of India & 2011-07-03
365:, Varadarajan was portrayed by
522:"Don's daughter killed (2010)"
436:"When Tamil Dons ruled Bombay"
1:
633:Singh, Vijay (3 July 2011).
1087:Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
314:Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
285:In a television interview,
252:for his iconic performance.
1234:
553:Zaidi, S. Hussain (2012).
493:The Hindu & 2012-10-20
175:station during the annual
1131:
743:
557:. New Delhi: Roli Books.
255:The 1988 Hindi remake of
30:
703:Organised crime in India
667:Organised crime in India
577:"Fear was his best tool"
359:In the 2023 web series,
346:In the 2018 Tamil film,
336:Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka
333:In the 2015 Tamil movie
320:In the 2013 Tamil film,
129:Varadarajan was born in
1198:Indian drug traffickers
1183:People from Thoothukudi
1094:Shootout at Lokhandwala
369:as Anna Rajan Mudaliar.
25:Varadharajan Mudaliyar
1218:Criminals from Mumbai
962:Encounter specialists
1193:Indian extortionists
892:Subhash Bhaskar Nair
782:Varadarajan Mudaliar
311:In 2010 Hindi film,
295:after Varadarajan's.
1203:Indian crime bosses
1142:Encounters in India
727:Chaddi Baniyan gang
620:(20 October 2012).
301:Thottal Poo Malarum
216:Sadashiv Amrapurkar
1101:Shootout at Wadala
1073:Gangs of Wasseypur
984:Ravindranath Angre
767:Kotwal Ramachandra
647:on 5 November 2012
640:The Times of India
604:: 22. January 1988
543:The Times of India
527:The Times of India
480:The Times of India
441:The Times of India
341:Mithun Chakraborty
298:In the 2007 film,
203:In popular culture
156:While a porter at
1155:
1154:
722:Kala Kachcha gang
596:"A Don's Funeral"
564:978-81-7436-894-2
530:. 7 October 2010.
482:. 7 October 2010.
444:. 2 November 2015
84:
83:
51:Madras Presidency
1225:
1213:Indian smugglers
1188:Indian gangsters
1139:
1138:
969:Aftab Ahmed Khan
907:Santokben Jadeja
749:
732:Ashok Mahto gang
696:
689:
682:
673:
656:
654:
652:
643:. Archived from
629:
613:
611:
609:
591:
589:
587:
575:(30 July 2010).
568:
547:
531:
508:
502:
496:
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484:
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472:
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463:India Today 1988
460:
454:
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408:
402:
396:
390:
384:
367:Dinesh Prabhakar
362:Bambai Meri Jaan
287:Amitabh Bachchan
177:Ganesh Chaturthi
97:, was an Indian
68:
35:
21:
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822:Jayendra Thakur
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193:Indian Airlines
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16:Indian mob boss
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989:Vijay Salaskar
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979:Pradeep Sharma
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917:Munna Bajrangi
914:
912:Mukhtar Ansari
909:
904:
899:
894:
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887:Nirbhay Gujjar
884:
879:
877:Ejaz Lakdawala
874:
869:
864:
859:
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847:Chhota Shakeel
844:
839:
834:
829:
827:Anandpal Singh
824:
819:
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804:
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792:Dawood Ibrahim
789:
784:
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774:
769:
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737:Thak Thak gang
734:
729:
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598:. Statenotes.
592:
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219:
204:
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153:
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146:Dawood Ibrahim
126:
123:
121:, Tamil Nadu.
82:
81:
71:
69:(aged 61)
65:2 January 1988
63:
59:
58:
45:
43:9 October 1926
41:
37:
36:
28:
27:
24:
15:
13:
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897:Gopal Rajwani
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842:Anees Ibrahim
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762:M. P. Jayaraj
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627:
623:
619:
618:Haasan, Kamal
615:
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442:
437:
431:
428:
425:, p. 31.
424:
419:
416:
413:, p. 22.
412:
407:
404:
401:, p. 20.
400:
395:
392:
389:, p. 32.
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152:Personal life
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108:
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55:British India
52:
48:
42:
38:
34:
29:
22:
19:
1120:
1113:
1108:Class of '83
1106:
1099:
1092:
1085:
1078:
1071:
1064:
1057:
1050:
927:Kamdev Singh
902:Pappu Kalani
852:Muthappa Rai
807:Chhota Rajan
781:
649:. Retrieved
645:the original
638:
625:
606:. Retrieved
599:
584:. Retrieved
580:
554:
541:
525:
500:
488:
479:
470:
458:
446:. Retrieved
439:
430:
418:
406:
394:
382:
360:
347:
334:
321:
312:
299:
290:
277:
267:Vinod Khanna
260:
256:
246:Kamal Haasan
239:
226:
209:
198:
181:
167:His opulent
166:
155:
143:
128:
111:Sathuvachari
94:
90:
86:
85:
67:(1988-01-02)
18:
1178:Bootleggers
1173:1988 deaths
1168:1926 births
1140:Categories
994:Sachin Waze
922:Vikas Dubey
882:D. P. Yadav
867:Ravi Pujari
857:Abdul Latif
832:Manya Surve
802:Yakub Memon
797:Tiger Memon
772:Haji Mastan
601:India Today
448:11 November
354:Rajinikanth
236:Mani Ratnam
223:Amrish Puri
189:Haji Mastan
115:North Arcot
107:Haji Mastan
1162:Categories
974:Daya Nayak
953:Jamim Shah
948:Maya Dolas
943:Dilip Buwa
872:Ali Budesh
837:Maya Dolas
817:Atiq Ahmed
812:Arun Gawli
787:Bada Rajan
777:Karim Lala
628:. Chennai.
515:References
265:, starred
211:Ardh Satya
158:VT Station
139:VT Station
135:Tamil Nadu
103:Karim Lala
99:crime boss
91:Vardhabhai
77:Tamil Nadu
862:Abu Salem
755:Gangsters
717:D-Company
626:The Hindu
374:Citations
328:Sathyaraj
323:Thalaivaa
292:Agneepath
279:Abhimanyu
274:Malayalam
234:In 1987,
221:In 1984,
184:Ganapathi
131:Tuticorin
119:Tuticorin
47:Tuticorin
1052:Attahasa
936:Henchmen
661:See also
306:Rajkiran
1080:Nayakan
1059:Company
651:22 July
608:25 July
586:22 July
581:MiD DAY
573:Dey, J.
262:Dayavan
257:Nayakan
241:Nayakan
228:Mashaal
173:Matunga
169:pandals
125:History
79:, India
1122:Kabali
1115:Kaalaa
1044:Movies
561:
276:film,
162:dargah
95:Vardha
73:Madras
710:Gangs
423:Zaidi
411:Zaidi
399:Zaidi
387:Zaidi
349:Kaala
238:made
1003:Laws
653:2013
610:2013
588:2013
559:ISBN
450:2016
105:and
93:and
62:Died
40:Born
171:at
113:in
1164::
637:.
624:.
579:.
540:.
524:.
478:.
438:.
339:,
326:,
304:,
259:,
133:,
75:,
53:,
49:,
1066:D
695:e
688:t
681:v
655:.
612:.
590:.
567:.
546:.
507:.
495:.
452:.
231:.
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