In 2021, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan endured a harrowing period when his son, Aryan Khan, was arrested in a high-profile drugs case aboard a cruise ship. Aryan, who was later granted bail and given a clean chit in 2022, spent over three weeks in custody in October 2021. During this time, Shah Rukh Khan went to great lengths in his efforts to secure his son's release.

In a recent interview with Republic TV on the programme 'The Legal Side of Things', senior advocate and former Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi, recounted how he came to represent Aryan Khan in the Bombay High Court. Rohatgi revealed that he was on holiday in the United Kingdom at the time and initially declined to take up the case when approached by a close associate of the actor.

“I was in the UK on a holiday. And those there were COVID times. I got a call from somebody who was close to Mr Khan that he wants you to argue that case in Bombay High Court. I refused (saying) that I don't want to break my holiday,” he explained.

However, Shah Rukh Khan personally contacted Rohatgi after obtaining his number. Rohatgi recalled that he again refused, not wanting to disrupt his vacation. But the actor persisted.

“Mr Khan got my number and he called me. So I told him the same thing that I don’t want to do it. The great actor he is, he said, ‘Can I speak to your wife?’ I said sure,” Rohatgi said, smiling. “He gave her the sob story, that ‘don’t take it as a client, I am a father’. You know, things like that. And obviously, he was feeling it. So my wife also said ‘Arre chale jao (Please go)’.”

Encouraged by his wife, Rohatgi agreed to take the case. Shah Rukh reportedly offered him a private jet to travel to Mumbai, but the lawyer declined. “Mr Khan was gracious enough. He offered me a private jet, which I didn’t take. I am not very fond of small jets. So I flew down to Mumbai,” he said.

Upon arrival, Shah Rukh checked into the same hotel as Rohatgi—Trident, Nariman Point—to facilitate detailed discussions about the case. Rohtagi said he found Khan to be quite keen and intelligent. "He had made a lot of notes and points and stuff like that, apart from the lawyers. And he discussed it with me,” Rohatgi stated.

For the former attorney general, it was a regular bail matter, and he had done thousands of them. What was different in this case was the important personality involved in it, which attracted public attention.

The bail hearing lasted two to three half-days, after which Aryan Khan was granted bail. Rohatgi then returned to the UK to complete his holiday. The case had initially been handled by Satish Maneshinde—who had also represented Rhea Chakraborty during the investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death—and later by senior advocate Amit Desai before Rohatgi was brought in.

Aryan Khan’s arrest came following a raid by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on the Cordelia Empress cruise ship, which was headed for Lakshadweep. The NCB, led by then-zonal director Sameer Wankhede, detained Aryan along with his friend Arbaaz Merchant and several others. Aryan spent more than three weeks in Arthur Road Jail before being released, and the NCB eventually dropped all charges against him in 2022.

Following the legal ordeal, Aryan has ventured into the entertainment industry—not as an actor, but as a filmmaker. He recently made his directorial debut with the Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood, produced under Shah Rukh’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment. The show, which has opened to positive reviews, features Lakshya and Sahher Bambba in leading roles, alongside Bobby Deol, Mona Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Rajat Bedi, Gautami Kapoor and Manish Chaudhari. It also includes cameo appearances by Bollywood heavyweights such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Karan Johar.

In the series, Aryan even alludes to his past legal troubles, subtly referencing the 2021 incident in a satirical manner.