Irrfan Khan attends Spider-Man world premiere

Plus: Aamir Khan keeps his promise, Indian short Gattu gets Stuttgart screening, British TV star turned off Twitter by racist taunts, and Eega to be dubbed for Hindi market.

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Irrfan Khan flew to Los Angeles on Monday to attend the world premiere of his new film The Amazing Spider-Man, where he plays a character named Dr Ratha. The film, directed by Marc Webb and headlined by Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, will premiere in Hollywood on Thursday. Khan has been keeping mum about his role in the film, poised to be one of the year's biggest releases. The actor will also star in Ang Lee's big screen adaptation of Life of Pi, which is due to arrive in cinemas in November. In India, The Amazing Spider-Man will come out on 1,000 screens on Friday, ahead of its international release. * IANS

Aamir Khan keeps promise with taxi driver

Earlier this month, the actor Aamir Khan visited New Delhi to present to the Parliament of India his research on local medical malpractices, which he exposed on his TV show Satyamev Jayate. While in town, he hired a female taxi driver named Shanno, a victim of domestic violence who previously appeared on his show and whom he promised to meet the next time he came to Delhi. True to his word, Khan tapped Shanno to drive him throughout his trip, including his stop at the Parliament. This is not the first time the actor has made headlines for going out of his way to spend time with non-celebrities he had befriended: in April last year, he attended the wedding of the son of a driver he met while travelling on his own in Uttar Pradesh. * IANS

Indian short Gattu to screen in Germany

After travelling to various international festivals, Rajan Khosa's short film Gattu has been invited to the ninth edition of the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart in Germany, to be held from July 18 to 22. The film will be eligible to compete for the audience award and the director's vision award. Gattu, about a boy obsessed with kite-flying, premiered at the International Children's Film Festival in Hyderabad. It went on to screen in Berlin, Cannes, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Beijing and, most recently, Edinburgh. * IANS

Indian-origin British star faces web taunts

The British actress Shobna Gulati, whose parents are Indian, said she was forced to quit Twitter after suffering a stream of racist abuse. Some users posted mutilated photos of the 45-year-old Coronation Street star, as well as scathing messages. "You're not British, you're foreign," read one tweet. "You have got to be the ugliest face I've ever seen," said another. "I'll always be here to bother you." Gulati, who plays the character of Sunita in the British soap, said in a statement: "Being racially abused on Twitter really shook me up. It felt like going back in time to the 1970s. I just decided enough was enough. I tried to ignore it but it started to affect my confidence. Violent, vitriolic hatred gives people their moment in the spotlight." * IANS

Eega to be released in Hindi

The forthcoming Telugu-Tamil fantasy film Eega will be dubbed in Hindi and converted into 3D, announced its producer Suresh Babu. Written and directed by SS Rajamouli, the film stars the South Indian actors Sudeep, Samantha Ruth Prabha and Nani. The movie will premiere in India on July 6, while its Hindi version is expected to be released later in the year. "I'm confident the 3D and Hindi version will be received better by more moviegoers," said Rajamouli. * IANS