Shantaram Review: The Cursed Production Finally Coming To The Screen

Gregory David Roberts’ blockbuster novel was released in 2003 and sold the screen rights shortly thereafter. It had Russell Crowe, then Johnny Depp, and for a while, Joel Edgerton. Peter Weir intended to direct at one point.

After 10+ years of development hell, Shantaram The movie morphed into the TV show Shantaram. Streaming has overtaken movies, and books have surpassed his 900 pages.

But even with increased television production, off-screen drama wasn’t over. At that point, in 2019, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eric Warren Singer was tapped to write the script, and Australian director Justin Kurzel was to be set-up director.

Two episodes filmed in Melbourne and Mumbai before shutting down – show reportedly not on the right track age‘s Carl Quinn, the rest of the script wasn’t ready.

By the time the cameras roll again in mid-2021, this time in Thailand, Shantaram It was basically a reboot from scratch. New showrunner Steve Lightfoot (Punisher, hannibal), Bharat Narli directed the first episode.

It’s a miracle that there is such a back story Shantaram Not to mention 10 episodes that are lush and intriguing, albeit a slow-burn drama.

If you’re one of those who didn’t go through the doorstopper in Roberts’ book, the story, set in the late 1970s, follows Lynn (Charlie Hunnam), an Australian man who escaped the Victorian prison he’s serving. ) about the 19-year sentence for a bank robbery in which a cop was murdered.

With a share of the booty and a fake New Zealand passport, Lynn flees to Mumbai and then Bombay.

Lynn also meets a community of castaways and outsiders at one of the expat bars, a gathering of people from elsewhere, including pimps, sex workers and well-connected Carla (Antonia Desplat). increase.

As a newcomer to this network of prickly motives and criminal ties, Lynn disrupts the dynamic, especially when she develops a crush on Carla. He’s also making waves in his community of Prabhu’s slums, a target for competing developers looking to evict those left behind and build on the ashes of their homes.

if there is one thing Shantaram wants you to stay away from the first season – which doesn’t touch Roberts’ book much – it’s because everyone except Lynn, whose motive is primarily to stay out of prison, seeks redemption. It means you have an agenda.

The sticky world within the series is rife with corruption and is available for purchase by most people.

Shaw mostly avoids the white savior complex despite being hailed as a doctor in the slums to cure everyone’s ailments (he was an Australian umbo). Too much to actually save anyone.

Shantaram is the story of Lynn’s redemption, and while the show doesn’t delve into the texture of its journey, it vividly evokes a certain world.

It’s a lazy show that doesn’t happen much, but if you have the patience to stick with it, and Hannam’s so-so Australian accent doesn’t distract too much- Shantaram Compelling enough to be an immersive story.

Shantaram is now streaming on Apple TV+

first published as Shantaram: A cursed piece that finally hit the screen