'Yes, I am playing the villain in Spiderman'

Irrfan Khan confirms the news for the first time in press

So far it's beenu00a0 in the realm of speculation. Now we have got it from the horse's mouth. Irrfan Khan will play the villain in the new Spiderman movie.u00a0



"Yes, I've been offered the new Spiderman film. But I haven't read the script yet. I will be meeting the team after I return to Indiau00a0 next week, and shooting starts in the middle of 2011," said Khan over the phone from Egypt, where he is busy being a member of the jury at the Cairo Film Festival.

Khan has taken a few days off after the fest to travel around Egypt.

"I don't knowu00a0 whether it is the role of the character that you mention (Van Atter), but it's a pivotal role and a negative one. I am looking forward to this because I haven't done anything outside the realistic realm before. The number of eyeballsu00a0u00a0 Spiderman films grab, is staggering."

Khan who shot to international fame as Tabu's Bengali husband in Mira Nair's The Namesake, is back with the actress to play the protagonist in Ang Lee's Life Of Pi.

The shooting for the film will begin in Taiwan, Khan confirms. "Working with Tabu is always a pleasure. I enjoyed Maqbool and The Namesake. Mira whou00a0 brought Tabu and meu00a0 together said she owed meu00a0 The Namesake because many years earlier, she had cut my role in Salaam Bombay," he laughs.

At the moment, Khan is enjoying the reviews he has received for his first appearance on American television in In Treatment. "The reviews sound almost like poetry. I guess someone up there likes me."