City bizman sends SRK legal notice demanding Rs 40 Crore

Claims the star stole his idea and launched mobile game to popularise RA.One without giving him any credit; now demands Rs 40 crore to settle matter or initiate legal action

A city-based businessman has taken on Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and is alleging that the actor stole his idea and launched a mobile phone game to popularise the movie Ra-One, without acknowledging his contribution.


Shakir Aga served notice to Shah Rukh Khan
through Red Chillies Entertainment on Tuesday



Shakir Aga (27), who runs a hospitality business in Bangalore, served notice to SRK through Red Chillies Entertainment on Tuesday stating that further legal action would be initiated if the star did not pay him Rs 40 crore, which is apparently his share for the project estimated at around Rs 400 crore.

He said that he hit upon the idea for the game and discussed it with Lida Moghaghegh, a Persian national and a popular TV artist in US in March last year, who in turn mailed the details to Chief Finance Officer Blesson Oommen of Red Chillies Entertainment in 2010.

Communication gap
To follow up, Aga sent a detailed mail to Oommen on March 18 and the CFO replied on December 14 thanking him and assuring that he would get back at an appropriate time.

Aga again sent Oommen a reminder on May 6, but received no response, and even a series of mails, phone calls and Fax messages went unanswered.

A few months later, Oommen finally responded stating that SRK was busy and would get back to Aga shortly.
However, the last email received from Red Chillies Entertainment in October 2010 announced that SRK would be launching the phone game along with his latest movie.

Legal eagle
"This is prejudiced and SRK and company have stolen the idea from Aga without acknowledging his contribution," Aga's advocate M S Mukarram who issued legal notice said.

The advocate said that this amounts to cheating and breach of trust and that the notice warns of legal action if SRK launches his game without settling matters with Aga.

Meanwhile, Mukarram said that it is mandatory to issue legal notice before filing a case. "We will wait one month for a reply, following which we will take appropriate action accordingly," he said.

This reporter contacted Red Chillies Entertainment after several attempts and was told that they were not aware of anyone by the name of Aga and neither did they know about any such issue.