Haji Mastan, originally known as Mastan Haider Mirza, was a Bombay-based Tamil Muslim mobster who became the first celebrity gangster in the city of Bombay. Born in 1926 in a Tamil family in Pannaikulam, near Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, At age 8, moved to Bombay with his father. The father-son duo ran a small cycle repair shop in Crawford market. 10 years later, in 1944, Mastan joined the Bombay docks as a porter and from there entered organised crime. He worked in association with Karim Lala and by the 1960s became a rich man. He amassed millions from smuggling gold, silver, and electronic goods, and expanded his clout in the film industry by investing his money with directors and studios, in film production in Bollywood. As Mastan's influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films himself and was a well-known producer.