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<div>{{Short description|Indian mob boss}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2013}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}<br />
<br />
'''Varadarajan Mudaliar''' (1926 – 2 January 1988), also known as '''Vardhabhai''' and '''Vardha''', was an Indian [[crime boss]]. He was one of the infamous trio of mafia gang leaders of Mumbai the other being [[Karim Lala]] and [[Haji Mastan]]. His origin is [[North Arcot]] district of Tamil Nadu, from where his father migrated to Tuticorin to work in shipping business. He was born in [[Tuticorin]], Tamil Nadu. From early 1960s to the 1980s; he was one of the most powerful mob bosses in [[Bombay]], along with [[Haji Mastan]] and [[Karim Lala]].{{sfn|Zaidi|p=32}}<br />
<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Varadharajan Mudaliyar<br />
| image = VaradarajanMudaliarImage.jpg<br />
| image_size = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = 1926<br />
| birth_place = [[Tuticorin]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]]<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|01|02|1926|03|01|df=yes}}<br />
| death_place = [[Madras]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India<br />
| occupation = <br />
| spouse = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
== History ==<br />
<br />
Varadarajan was born in [[Tuticorin]], [[Tamilnadu]] in 1926{{sfn|Zaidi|p=20}} He moved to Mumbai in 1945. Working as a porter at [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station|VT Station]], 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.<br />
<br />
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 [[Dawood Ibrahim]], 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.<br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
<br />
While a porter at [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus|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.{{sfn|Zaidi|p=22}}<br />
<br />
His opulent [[pandal]]s at [[Matunga]] station during the annual [[Ganesh Chaturthi]] celebrations were quite famous and visited by celebrities.{{sfn|Zaidi|p=31}} However, after the collapse of the cotton mills in Mumbai in the mid-1980s, their relevance ended.<br />
<br />
During the period of Varadarajan's fading influence, his hugely popular [[Ganapathi]] 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 till his demise in January 1988, following a heart attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-Tamil-dons-ruled-Bombay/articleshow/49623540.cms| title=When Tamil Dons ruled Bombay | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=2 November 2015 | access-date=11 November 2016}}</ref> [[Haji Mastan]] brought his body to Mumbai in a chartered [[Indian Airlines]] plane for last rites{{sfn|India Today|1988|ps=: "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."}} as per Varda's wishes {{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}. 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.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}<br />
<br />
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.<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6702649.cms "Don's daughter, son-in-law killed in fire", ''Times of India'', Oct. 7, 2010.]</ref><br />
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== In popular culture ==<br />
<br />
In 1983, in the film [[Ardh Satya]], the character of Rama Shetty played by actor [[Sadashiv Amrapurkar]] was loosely based on Varadarajan.<br />
<br />
In 1984, actor [[Amrish Puri]] played a character called Varadarajan of Dogharbhatti in the movie, [[Mashaal]].<br />
<br />
In 1987, [[Mani Ratnam]] made his film ''[[Nayakan]]'', loosely based on Varadarajan's life. Actor [[Kamal Haasan|Kamal Hassan]] played the lead role.{{sfn|The Hindu|2012-10-20}}<br />
<br />
The 1988 Hindi movie ''[[Dayavan]]'', starring [[Vinod Khanna]] was a remake of ''[[Nayakan]]''.<br />
<br />
One of the characters in the 1991 [[Malayalam]] film [[Abhimanyu (1991 film)|Abhimanyu]], which was based on the Mumbai underworld activities, holds resemblance to Muthaliar with the character's name being the same.<br />
<br />
In a television interview, [[Amitabh Bachchan]] stated that he modeled his dialogues and mannerisms in the movie ''[[Agneepath (1990 film)|Agneepath]]'' after Varadarajan's.{{sfn|Times of India|2011-07-03}}<br />
<br />
In 2007, In the film [[Thottal Poo Malarum]], ''[[Rajkiran]]'' Played the role in the name of Varadarajan Vaandaiyar.<br />
<br />
In 2010 Hindi movie [[Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai]] the character of Vardhan played by [[Ravi Khanvilkar]] was inspired by Varadarajan Mudaliar.<br />
<br />
In the 2013 Tamil movie ''[[Thalaiva]]'', [[Sathyaraj]]'s character is mainly extracted from Varadarajan's life. [[Vijay (actor)|Vijay]] played the lead and as Sathyaraj's son.<br />
<br />
In the 2015 Tamil movie ''[[Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka]]'', starring [[Mithun Chakraborty]] a character is mainly extracted from Varadarajan's life.<br />
<br />
In the 2018 Tamil movie "[[Kaala (2018 film)|Kaala]]", where the lead role played by Rajinikanth was inspired by Varadarajan's life.<br />
<br />
== Citations ==<br />
{{reflist|40em}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
* {{cite journal<br />
|title = Don's daughter killed (2010) <br />
|url =https://m.timesofindia.com/city/chennai/Dons-daughter-son-in-law-killed-in-fire/articleshow/6702649.cms<br />
| newspaper = [[The Times of India|Times of India]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
* {{cite journal<br />
|title = Ex-mumbai don's daughter killed in a fire accident<br />
|url =http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/exmumbai-don-s-daughter-soninlaw-die-in-chennai-fire/694317/<br />
<br />
| newspaper = [[The Times of India|Indian Express]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Zaidi | first=S. Hussain<br />
| year = 2012<br />
| title = Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of Mumbai Mafia<br />
| publisher = Roli Books<br />
| place = New Delhi<br />
| isbn = 978-81-7436-894-2<br />
| ref = {{sfnRef|Zaidi}}<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite news<br />
| last = Dey<br />
| first = J.<br />
| author-link = J. Dey<br />
| title = Fear was his best tool<br />
| newspaper = MiD DAY<br />
| date = 30 July 2010<br />
| access-date = 22 July 2013<br />
| url = http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/jul/300710-varadarajan-mudaliar-tamil-don-mumbai-underworld.htm<br />
| ref = {{sfnRef|MiD DAY|2010-07-30}}<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite journal<br />
|title=A Don's Funeral<br />
|department=Statenotes<br />
|journal=[[India Today]]<br />
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hl5DAAAAYAAJ<br />
|access-date=25 July 2013<br />
|date=January 1988<br />
|page=22<br />
|ref = {{sfnRef|India Today|1988}}<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite news<br />
| last = Haasan<br />
| first = Kamal<br />
| author-link = Kamal Hassan<br />
| title = 'Of course Velu Nayakan doesn't dance'<br />
| newspaper = The Hindu<br />
| location = Chennai<br />
| date = 20 October 2012<br />
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/of-course-velu-nayakan-doesnt-dance/article4008896.ece<br />
| ref = {{sfnRef|The Hindu|2012-10-20}}<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite news<br />
| last = Singh<br />
| first = Vijay<br />
| url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-03/news-interviews/29732873_1_tamil-film-agneepath-haji-mastan<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105194837/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-03/news-interviews/29732873_1_tamil-film-agneepath-haji-mastan<br />
| url-status = dead<br />
| archive-date = 5 November 2012<br />
| title = Amitabh Bachchan recalls the old dons of Bombay of yore<br />
| date = 3 July 2011<br />
| access-date = 22 July 2013<br />
| newspaper = [[The Times of India]]<br />
| ref = {{sfnRef|Times of India|2011-07-03}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
*[[Organised crime in India]]<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudaliar, Varadarajan}}<br />
[[Category:1926 births]]<br />
[[Category:1988 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Bootleggers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Thoothukudi]]<br />
[[Category:Indian gangsters]]<br />
[[Category:Indian extortionists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian drug traffickers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian crime bosses]]<br />
[[Category:Indian money launderers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian smugglers]]<br />
[[Category:Criminals from Mumbai]]</div>115.96.219.151