Shantaram Forum

I have to apologise to readers that there is some bad news to get out of the way before we find out when the Shantaram sequel The Mountain Shadow will be published.

Shantaram movie ’shelved’.

UK newspaper The Independent published an article on Friday wherein Mira Nair reportedly told actor Amitabh Bachchan that she was told the project was ’shelved’, and with no other speculation as to why this was the case.

For fans of the movie, this comes as little surprise as we reported back in May that rumours has surfaced that Johnny Depp had stalled the production of Shantaram stating concerns over security. It appears that Mira’s attempts to steer the project back to filming in India were not as successful as she had hoped.

The Mountain Shadow

Note: the following dates are known to be delayed
Fans will just have to wait for the new book, The Mountain Shadow, showing as being published on amazon.com on February 4th 2012, in an ‘Export ed edition’ by Little & Brown publishers. On the UK and European amazon sites the date is set as 2nd September the same year (and the same publisher). Full details copied below:

Please bear in mind that dates indicated are probably not firm, but a guideline.

Amazon.com
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown; Export ed edition (February 4, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1408701626
ISBN-13: 978-1408701621

Amazon.co.uk (And most European-based Amazon sites also)
Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown (2 Sep 2010)
ISBN-10: 1408701618
ISBN-13: 978-1408701614

I think fans will be pleased at least with this news, in the knowledge that a new novel from Gregory David Roberts will take his storytelling in a new direction with at least a a few of the characters we knew so well from Shantaram.

Give us your thoughts in the comment area below!

As reported on the community forum yesterday, we can confirm news stories floating around the web detailing Johnny Depp’s reluctance to shoot the Shantaram movie in India, quoting security concerns.

This will deeply sadden many fans of the book, who have patiently waited for news that the production was underway. It appears that Depp is more keen on using Mexico as a location, rather than Mumbai and India.

The good news is that Mira Nair is not budging on the location, insisting that the ambience of Mumbai’s dusty streets would not be recreated on sets. Some news sites are reporting on rumours that Nair is being removed from the project. It is worthwhile to note that this speculation cannot yet be confirmed, and we feel Mira is still the best candidate for director of this movie given her previously outstanding work.

Our opinion here on the Shantaram Forum is that if the movie goes ahead then it should be set as authentically as possible. Not only to aid the drama of the scenes, but to reveal more of the real India through the imagery set by the novel.

Source: spicezee news:

"Confirming the news, Irrfan Khan, who has been roped into play the role of a musician in the film, said, “From what I understand, Johnny Depp wasn’t too keen to come to India. Brad Pitt and he are good friends. What happened with Brand and Jolie in Mumbai scared him off, apparently".

What are your feelings on this? Let us know in the comments below, or head on over to the community to give us your thoughts

In other news

Head on over to this website to catch a picture of Gregory David Roberts having a copy of GQ mag signed by the eminent actor Irrfan Khan (Namesake)

The Danny Boyle film adaption of Vikas Swarup’s book Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars at the awards ceremony this weekend, and many are now speculating that the success of this India/Mumbai based movie will turn up the heat on the production of Shantaram.

Shantaram has been on the back burner for Director Mira Niar for some time now, and with the success of Slumdog it is expeted that Studio Chiefs will want to fast-track the Shantaram movie into production. The movie, set to star Johnny Depp as Lin, appears to have found it’s moment for both the Hollywood studios and the general movie-going public.

Favorite of Gregory David Roberts, bollywood composer A.R. Rahman picked up 2 Oscars for his music score in Slumdog. It is not known whether Rahman was to set the score for Shantaram, however his success with this film and Gregory’s fondness for his music may be the catalysts for him joining the Shantaram project.

What’s clear from this news is that movie goers are keen to see adaptions of thought provoking bestsellers projected on the silver screen, and if the success of Shantaram could be measured, then this is a strong indicator that the movie would do very well indeed.

Discuss this news with us on the Community Forum, and let us know what you thought of the book, or the film, and what’s to come for the Shantaram Movie and more.

That’s right, you can expect the film in 2011. Mira got talking about the supposed ’shelved’ Shantaram film while attending an event to promote her husband’s (Mahmood Mamdani) book ‘Good Muslim Bad Muslim’.

You can find a video of Mira talking about this and the Shantaram film by heading over to the timesnow.tv website.

Her admission that the film is not shelved but expected to release is 2011 isn’t exactly news. Fans have assumed that the long delay probably put it somewhere in this time scale, but the statement from Mira Nair does confirm once again to fans of the book that the movie is still on the cards.

It is not known if Gregory David Roberts is set to release a sequel to the bestseller Shantaram in the intervening time.

Discuss this news in our Community Forum

According to the online news magazine Variety, and other online sources, it appears the filming of Shantaram has been delayed due to last minute script changes. Discuss this news in our forum