Early Life
Haji Mastan was born Mastan Haider Mirza on March 1, 1926 in Panaikulam village near Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu. To this day, his family members, including his grandson Mohamed Haarish, live in Ramanathapuram and Nagapatinam district of Tamil Nadu.
His father, Haider Mirza, was a hard-working but impoverished farmer, who came to Mumbai after failing to make ends meet in his village. Father and son reached the city in 1934. After trying their hand at various odd jobs, they managed to set up a small shop where they repaired cycles and two-wheelers in Bengali Pura, near Crawford Market. Mastan soon realized that even after all the hard work, he could only make a meager 5 a day.
As he would walk home to his basti (ghetto) from Crawford Market, he would see the grand theaters such as, Alfred and Novelty, on South Mumbai’s Grant Road. He would stare at the cars of Mumbai’s rich and famous, their Malabar Hill bungalows, and resolved to be rich and famous himself one day.
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