Bahrain royal sued for 'breaking agreement' to meet Bollywood actors

Sheikh Hamad reportedly went back on the deal after meetings with four Bollywood stars - Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor - for which he paid around $3 million

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 when a five-day trial opens in the UK High Court next week.

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 legally contracted his firm, CBSC Events, to arrange private meetings with as many as 26 famous Bollywood stars on a wish list drawn up by him.

However, Sheikh Hamad reportedly went back on the deal after meetings with four Bollywood stars — Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor — in Mumbai and Dubai for which he paid around $3 million.

In his legal claim for damages due to inconvenience and loss of earnings, 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 further stars — Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan.

“This is an interesting case and involves oral agreements reached in London between two parties from the Middle East, concerning arranging meetings with famous Bollywood stars,” said Pavani Reddy, the Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co — the London-based law firm representing Ahmed in the trial, which is set to open on Monday.

Neither party has chosen to present any of the stars in question as witnesses.