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Will there be legal trouble for Rajinikanth’s next film with director Pa Ranjith? The superstar has got a legal notice from Sundar Shaekhar, who says he’s the adopted son of underworld don Haji Mastan Mirza. In the notice, Sundar has asked Rajinikanth not to depict Haji Mastan as a ‘smuggler and an underworld don’.
Haji Mastan was a Tamil don, a smuggler, film financier and real estate businessman, according to Times of India. There are speculations that Rajinikanth will play the role of the don, who lived between 1926 and 1994, in his next film with Pa Ranjith.
Sundar Shaekhar said in his notice:
He added that his father was never convicted by any court of law in India in any case of smuggling or any case related to underworld. “And representing or calling Late Shri Haji Mastan Mirza a ‘smuggler’ and underworld don is highly defamatory,” Sundar wrote.
He also threatened legal action against the movie. Saying that Haji Mastan was the founder of Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh, Sundar wrote:
However, he also offered to provide the real-life story of Haji Mastan Mirza, and produce the film as he is also a producer.
Haji Mastan Mirza was a Tamil Muslim who migrated to Mumbai when he was eight years old along with his father. He spoke fluent Tamil and was an associate of gangster Karim Lala and Varadarajan Mudaliar who were into smuggling and real estate business, reported Indian Express.
He was reportedly also known for his unique dressing sense and used to wear white clothes, white shoes, smoke costly cigarettes and drive a white Mercedes. Actor Ajay Devgan’s character in the movie Once Upon A Time in Mumbai was also inspired by Mastan Mirza.
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