B’wood-loving Sheikh fights damages claim

London, November 13

A Bollywood-loving member of the Bahrain royal family is set to fight a nearly $42.5-million damages claim brought by an Egyptian businessman during a four-day trial in the UK High Court.

Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed is suing Sheikh Hamad Isa Ali al-Khalifa, a cousin of the King of Bahrain, for allegedly reneging on a verbal agreement dating back to 2015. Under the agreement, Ahmed claims the Sheikh had contracted his firm CBSC Events to arrange private meetings with 26 Bollywood stars on a wish list drawn up by him.

However, the Sheikh reportedly went back on the deal after meeting four actors – Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor — for which he paid around $3 million. In his legal claim for damages, Ahmed alleges that the Sheikh breached the terms of their agreement by refusing to pay the sums for additional meetings arranged and that he made excuses not to meet two actors – Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan. 

The Sheikh argues that he pulled out of the deal after Ahmed “started to put unfair pressure” on him, “making unwarranted demands for very large sums of money and seeking to arrange meetings which were not convenient”. — PTI