Vardhabhai The " Nayagan"

 

The movie 'Nayagan' is an Indian crime film starring Kamalhassan and directed by Maniratnam. Nayagan was included in the 100 All time-best film list by the Time Magazine and top 20 greatest Indian film. The film was sent by India for the 60th Academy Awards under the Best Foreign Film Category. The movie also marked the rise of Mani Ratnnam as a film maker and it was Kamalhassan who suggested to producer Muktha V. Srinivasan to consider Maniratnam to direct the movie. The rest as they say is history and the film reached iconic status in Indian cinema.
 
Until today as one of many Kamalhassan fan I still enjoy this movie.I decided not to keep my moustache after watching this movie when its was first release in theatre.This is the first ever films Kamalhassan acted without his famous moustache and till today I don't keep my moustache which are one of the so call pride for many Indian like me.

                                 The Godfather Vardhabhai

The story was loosely based on the life of Varadarajan Mudaliar (Vardhabhai) who was a powerful mob boss from 60's to 80's.Varadarajan was born in Vellore, Madras Presidency in 1926.He moved to Mumbai in the early 1960s. Working as a porter at VT Station, he began his crime life by distributing illicit liquor.In association with Haji Mastan, who had by then established a smuggling operation at Bombay Port Docks, he ventured into stealing dock cargo.He later diversified into contract killings, narcotics trade and land encroachment.

Through the seventies, Varadarajan controlled the criminal operations in east and north central Mumbai, Karim Lala held sway in south and central Mumbai and most smuggling and illegal construction financing was managed by Haji Mastan.Starting in early 1980s, focused efforts by Mumbai police led by then DCP Y C Pawar destroyed Varadarajan's mafia organisation, forcing him to flee to Chennai.

Below are Haji Mastan,Karim Lala and Varadarajan.
             


While a porter at VT Station, Varadarajan began offering food to the poor at the nearby dargah of Bismillah Shah Baba and kept the tradition up as his fortunes rose.His opulent pandals at Matunga station during the annual Ganesh Chaturthi 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.

Tamil don Varadarajan managed to build a Rs 100-crore empire over two decades. He also set-up a hafta system that kept the cops happy and his name off the police rolls.Vardhabhai was probably one of the first underworld figures to realise that his empire would not survive without the support of policemen and politicians.At least 20 per cent of the police force hob-nobbed with him at some time or the other. Several eminent lawyers were also on his payroll.It is not surprising that Vardhabhai could easily manage the surrender and release of hundreds of hoodlums loyal to him. "Lakhs of rupees were allocated for fighting court cases.

He also founded the Bombay Tamilar Peravai, a social organisation for welfare of Tamil settlers in Mumbai.

Varadarajan died in Chennai on 2 January 1988 due to a heart attack. Haji Mastan brought his body to Mumbai in a chartered Indian Airlines plane for last rites as per Varda's wishes.Life came to a standstill in Dharavi, Matunga and Sion Koliwada when his body was flown into the city.