In a shocking turn of events, a slew of messages which were allegedly exchanged between Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede after the arrest of the former's son Aryan Khan in a drugs case have been accessed by Free Press Journal. The chats were attached by Wankhede in his petition before Bombay HC seeking quashing of the CBI FIR.
The text exchange is from the time Aryan languished in prison back in 2021 after his name cropped up in the sensational drugs-on-cruise case.
While the leaked chats have sent shockwaves across the country, one cannot help but read out the helplessness and vulnerability of the man, who is probably one of the biggest superstars in not just India, but across the world.
SRK can be seen begging, pleading, chiding and expressing his love and gratitude all at once in excruciatingly long text messages sent during all times of the day (even as early as 5 am), all to get his son out of prison, and it puts SRK as a father in the limelight, who otherwise often gets overshadowed by SRK, the icon.
When SRK begged and pleaded to Wankhede for Aryan
In the alleged chats between SRK and Wankhede, the actor can be seen having typed out the phrase, "I beg you please", at least 10 times, if not more.
While people call him 'King Khan' and even in his films, he has said, "I am the king of the world", the real story with SRK, the father, is in stark contrast with it, and by the chats, one can easily point out that his demeanour with Wankhede while pleading for his son's release was like that of anything but a king.
In the chats, SRK can be seen pleading for his family. He expressed his fear that Aryan would be "broken" by prison and that Wankhede had promised to "reform" him, not "batter" him. "I am a kind and gentle person Sameer please don't let my faith break in you and the system. Please it will shatter us as a family," one of the texts read.
He also tried to approach Wankhede not as SRK, for once, but just as a normal father to a young son. "Please don't break our heart today my man. Please it's a father to father request I love my children just like you do yours and exterior forces cannot be allowed to cloud a father to father feeling please," he wrote.
Not wanting to sound condescending or threatening, SRK even made every attempt to make his texts sound as humble and honest as possible by ending almost every message with "Love, SRK".
'Begged person in North to not involve my child in their politics': SRK
In the chats, SRK can also be seen trying every trick in the trade and admitting that he went out of his way to contact certain unnamed people and a "person in the North" to request them to not involve Aryan in "their politics". At one point, he even typed out an expletive, but the next moment, he toned it down with the same request -- to "go easy" on his son.
"Please man I beg you there is nothing from my side that is participant in the vested interests. I went out if my way and without even knowing them called and begged them not to involve my child in their politics. The people here and also the person in the North. I spoke as a father to them and even chided them that they are harming my kid in their selfish interests. Please man don't make him pay for these a**holes and vested people. I beg you man please. It's a larger thing my son and my family I swear play no part in it," a part of the chat read.
He even requested Wankhede to let him call and speak to him directly. Not just that, but he also asked the then-NCB official if he would want to speak to his daughter, Suhana Khan.
He was seen accepting the fact that it might be wrong on his part to contact Wankhede, who was investigating his son's case, directly and personally, but asked if he could speak to him only as a father.
He also stated that all Aryan needs is "reformation" and added, "I will also follow suit with what we talked in terms of making him a better person."
