Aamir Khan is huge in Bollywood, a superstar actor, director and producer, sometimes called the “Tom Hanks of India.” But between films –- “Dhoom 3: Back In Action” opens in December – Khan, 48, has also become a television sensation, hosting “Satyamev Jayete,” a Sunday morning show that means “Truth Prevails” in Hindi, and which tackles some of India’s most pressing social problems: forced abortions of unborn girls; domestic violence; child sexual abuse; alcoholism and treatment of the elderly. The show launched in 2012 and became so popular it propelled Khan onto the cover of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In the World issue this year. 

 

On Monday night in Washington, he will receive the first America Abroad Media award, along with Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Hurt Locker”) and the International Center on Non-Violent Conflict, a 2013 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Khan screened the fetal infanticide episode Sunday night at the Jefferson Hotel for a small audience whose members audibly gasped as several women told their gruesome stories. But “Satyamev” is no cheesy reality-TV shock fest. Rather Khan introduces each topic obliquely and gently before amassing damning evidence presented by victims, advocates and experts. At the end, he provides information for those in extremism seeking help.