Bahraini royal sued in UK over Bollywood stars ‘deal’

LONDON: A Bahraini royal told England’s High Court he was “astonished” at being sued over an alleged deal for access to top Bollywood stars.

Sheikh Hamad Isa Ali Al Khalifa is alleged to have struck a contract with Egyptian entrepreneur Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed to pay for meetings with 26 top actors from the Indian film industry.

The deal was worth £35mil (RM188mil) and Ahmed is suing the royal for £16mil (RM86mil) he claims he is owed in fees and costs.

Sheikh Hamad on Monday said he has a “lifelong passion” for Bollywood cinema and wanted to meet stars including Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai (pic).

In his witness statement, the royal said he paid Ahmed about £2.7mil (RM14.5mil) for meetings with Bollywood idols, but only because he “wanted to please him”, rather than due to any contractual obligations.

“I was grateful to (Ahmed) for helping me meet four top Bollywood artistes. I expressed my gratitude frequently by words and my gestures ... I considered this sum comfortably in excess of the amount that he had incurred in costs and expenses, including in fees for the Bollywood artists.

“I do not think that this gives him licence to demand vast sums of money to which he is not entitled.”

Ahmed claims that, during a phone conversation when Sheikh Hamad was in London in January 2016, the pair made an “oral agreement” that he would be paid more than £1mil (RM5.3mil) for each meeting, plus a bonus of more than £350,000 (RM1.8mil) after every third meeting.