Star-struck sheikh faces music in UK

Bollywood is one of the key elements of India’s “soft power” but an Arab sheikh’s desire to meet its stars in return for millions of dollars has ended in a court hearing in Britain.

Sheikh Hamad Isa Ali al-Khalifa, a distant cousin of the king of Bahrain and a Bollywood fan, was willing to pay huge sums to meet 26 stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. He allegedly entered into a contract with Egyptian businessman Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed to arrange meetings with the stars for $1.5 million each. Two meetings were arranged with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2016.

But thereafter the sheikh allegedly reneged on the contract and arranged meetings with other stars through new agents, prompting Ahmed to sue him for $42.5 million in Britain. The royal insists there was no such contract. The judgement is expected before the Christmas break.

Ahmed is represented by law firm Zaiwalla and Co, founded by Indian-origin lawyer Sarosh Zaiwalla, who said: “The sheikh paid $3 million for meeting Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan but then arranged with someone else to arrange further meetings.”

Andrew Hochhauser, appearing for the sheikh, said: “There is no evidence of an agreement. There is no record or copy of the list of 26 Bollywood stars. ”

The claimant said that as soon as the sheikh started answering questions from the witness box on November 20, it was apparent he was both shrewd and knowledgeable. HTC