When will Shantaram get made ?

I have been hearing about Shantaram: the movie for almost 2 years now. The question is -as so when is it going to be made.It has already been delayed due to the writers strike of late 2007-08 and pre production and scripting is taking way longer than initially expected.

Owing to the book’s immense popularity worldwide, the cinematic adaptation of the novel is a reasonably anticipated and a project with immense potential.

I have surfed the net and lots of stuff that pops up is too old and dates to 08’ and early 09’.According to imdb.com ,Shantaram is till under development ,although there has been no official announcement –from the studio Warner bros or producers about the tentative schedule or release date.

At helm as the director would be Mira Nair who last year made Amelia, the biopic on Amelia Earhart and the Suketu Mehta written story in NewYork,I love you- starring Natalie Portman and Irfan Khan.

The novel Shantaram-itself is so detailed and loaded with information that there would be a problem of plenty for the screenplay writers .What do they chose to include and what to avoid?

Lin’s escape from Australia, his flight to New Zealand, his arrival and antics in India, the plague, the jail torture, the 6 month maharashtrian village stay where he is named ‘Shantaram’, the elaborate philosophical conversations with don Abdul Khader Khan, his brief stint as a Bollywood extra, his chasing of Karla to Goa, Leopold cafe, the friends, Prabhaker, Madame Zhou, Sapna mystery, Afghanistan, the lechers of dingy bylanes, counterfeit money, ingenious passport makers, the Russians and loads more.

Maybe the best way would be to leave some of the thing to the book itself and invent new scenes for the screen.

The cast is going to guarantee an opening. Any Depp movie will, which also includes Mr.Bachchan who will play Abdul Khader Khan. For Depp, even though the next blip on the radar is Pirates of the Caribbean: fountain of youth, he has stated that he is committed to Shantaram. Brad Pitt‘s production company is associated with the project and Depp is the co –producer.

There are sites with threads that criticize Depp’s choice as the hunky escaped Australian convict, but I disagree. You have to keep faith, he will be really good.

I am curious to see them create the Bombay of 80’s.How they are going to return to slightly saner time in an increasingly maddening and crowded city.Mira Nair also has Irfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and possibly Pankaj Kapoor into the project .There is a decent chance of a fairly large number of Indian cast members working in an a list Hollywood production.Vishal Bhardwaj is to score sound track and the shooting will take place in Mumbai ,Afghanistan and New Mexico .When? That remains the question.

Nair will be aware of its Oscar potential and so the timing of the release is important .Late 2011 seems ideal –exactly 3 years after a film based in Bombay swept the Academy awards.