Shantaram (novel)

Shantaram  

1st edition
Author(s) Gregory David Roberts
Country Australia
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Scribe Publications (Aus)
Publication date 2003
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 936 pp (US hardback edition)
ISBN ISBN 1-920769-00-5 (First hardback edition)
OCLC Number 223420249

Shantaram is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escaped from Pentridge Prison flees to India where he lives for 10 years. The novel is commended by many for its vivid portrayal of tumultuous life in Bombay.

Contents

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Plot summary

Shantaram is a novel influenced by real events in the life of the author, Australian Gregory David Roberts. In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to 19-year imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies of building society branches, credit unions, and shops. In July 1980, he escaped from Victoria’s Pentridge Prison in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia's most wanted men for the next ten years.

The protagonist Lindsay arrives in Mumbai carrying a false passport in the name of Lindsay Ford. Mumbai was only a stopover on a journey that was to take him from New Zealand to Germany, but he decides to stay in the city. Lindsay soon meets a local man named Prabaker whom he hires as a guide, but soon becomes his best friend and renames him Lin (Linbaba). Both men visit Prabaker's native village, Sunder, where Prabaker's mother decided to give Lin a new Maharashtrian name, like her own. Because she judged his nature to be blessed with peaceful happiness, she decided to call him Shantaram, meaning Man of God's Peace. On their way back to Mumbai after a night out, Lin and Prabaker are robbed. With all his possessions gone, Lin is forced to live in the slums, giving him shelter from the authorities and free rent in Mumbai. After a massive fire on the day of his arrival in the slum, he sets up a free health clinic as a way to contribute to the community. He learns about the local culture and customs in this crammed environment, gets to know and love the people he encounters, and even becomes fluent in Marathi, the local language. He also witnesses and battles outbreaks of cholera and firestorms, becomes involved in trading with the lepers, and experiences how ethnic and marital conflicts are resolved in this densely crowded and diverse community.

The novel describes a number of foreigners of various origins, as well as local Indians, highlighting the rich diversity of life in Mumbai. Lin falls in love with Karla, a Swiss-American woman who does not love him back, befriends local artists and actors, landing him roles as an extra in several Bollywood movies, and is recruited by the Mumbai underworld for various criminal operations, including drug and weapons trade. Lin eventually lands in Mumbai's Arthur Road Prison, where he endures many beatings and other physical and mental abuse by guards, while existing under extremely squalid conditions, along with hundreds of other inmates. However, thanks to the protection of Afghan mafia don "Abdel Khader Khan", Lin is eventually released, and works in black market currency exchange and passport forgery. Having travelled as far as Africa on trips commissioned by the mafia, Lin later goes to Afghanistan to smuggle weapons for mujahideen freedom fighters in Afghanistan. When his mentor Khan is killed, Lin realizes he became everything he grew to loathe and falls into depression after he returns. He decides that he must fight for what he believes is right, and build an honest life. The story ends with him planning to go to Sri Lanka which lays the premise for the sequel to this book.

Fact-based elements

Based on Roberts' known biography, Shantaram reads as largely factual.[1][2] A few parts of the story, such as Roberts' criminal history and escape from prison in Australia, are a matter of public record,[3] while others remain harder (or impossible) to verify. There is a great deal of debate as to where the boundaries lie between fact and fiction in the book. Roberts has stated the characters in the story are largely invented, and that he merged different elements taken from true events and people into such events and characters like Prabaker 'of the big smile'.[4] In March 2006, the Mumbai Mirror, reported they may have discovered the inspiration for the big smile of the character Prabaker as belonging to a still living cab driver called Kishore, who took Roberts to his home village.[5]

Characters

Publication history

Originally, Shantaram was published by Scribe Publications as a hardcover and later as a paperback. Following the mediated resolution in 2004 of a dispute that arose in 2003 between Scribe and the book’s author, Gregory David Roberts, rights to all forms of the local publication of Shantaram reverted to the author after Scribe sold its remaining stock of hardbacks.[6] Pan Macmillian then took over publication under the Picador label.[7]

Sequels and prequels

Gregory Roberts has said that Shantaram is the second book in a planned quartet; however, it is the only novel currently available. A sequel entitled The Mountain Shadow is scheduled to be published on 31 May 2012 by Little Brown as per Borders Australia. [8] This next book is expected to be followed by a prequel, and a second sequel.[9] However the release date has been pushed back several times.

Film adaptation

When the novel Shantaram was published in 2003, several parties, including actor Russell Crowe, expressed interest in a film adaptation. Although Crowe was temporarily attached to a bid, Warner Bros. went forward with a $2 million bid primarily due to actor Johnny Depp's expression of love for the book to studio executive Brad Grey. With the rights won, Depp was attached to star in the film, which was to be based on a script written by the book's author Gregory David Roberts.[10] Roberts commended the casting choice, and the author said of his intended script, "The screenplay I am writing will be as complex and will have the same sense of layering and texturing. Thematically, it will reflect everything that is in the heart of the book and that is the exile experience, and the power of love to transform and change the heart of a person. But the book is a book and the film is a film—they are different art forms so the film will have an independent life."[11] In October 2005, Warner Bros. hired screenwriter Eric Roth to rewrite the initial draft created by Roberts.[12] The following November, director Peter Weir was hired by the studio to helm Shantaram and develop the script with Roth. The studio originally planned to schedule production for late 2006.[13]

By June 2006, Weir departed from the project with a studio spokesperson citing different interpretations between the director and the studio and producers.[14] In January 2007, director Mira Nair replaced Weir at the helm. The studio anticipated production would begin by autumn 2007 for a 2008 release.[15] Roth began rewriting the script to lower project costs, and actor Amitabh Bachchan joined to star opposite Depp. By November 2007, the anticipated February production start was canceled by Warner Bros, who cited the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike's interference with the script's readiness, the impending monsoon season in India, and Depp's schedule difficulties in filming between India and New Mexico in the United States.[16] The studio anticipated that production would finally begin in September 2008,[17] but by November 2009, with production not starting, The Independent reported the project had been cancelled.[18]

References

  1. ^ Marginal Revolution: Shantaram
  2. ^ The Candid Storyteller: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
  3. ^ Greg Roberts:
  4. ^ Shantaram - India Travel Forum | IndiaMike.com
  5. ^ Mumbai Mirror
  6. ^ Scribe Hardback - Out of Print
  7. ^ Picador Edition - Softcover
  8. ^ http://www.borders.com.au/book/mountain-shadow/6909933/
  9. ^ The Sunday Tribune - Books
  10. ^ Fleming, Michael; Cathy Dunkley (6 October, 2004). "WB books adventure for Depp". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117911579.html. 
  11. ^ Moran, Jonathon (8 October, 2004). "Depp perfectly cast in Shantaram, author says". Australian Associated Press. 
  12. ^ Fleming, Michael (25 October, 2005). "Scribe's in custody". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117931606.html. 
  13. ^ Fleming, Michael (30 November, 2005). "Weir to steer Depp pic". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117933791.html. 
  14. ^ Fleming, Michael (11 June, 2006). "'Shantaram' shuffling". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117945086.html. 
  15. ^ McClintock, Pamela (18 January, 2007). "Nair, Depp journey to India film". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957715.html. 
  16. ^ Fleming, Michael; Anne Thompson (19 November, 2007). "Strike delays 'Shantaram,' 'Nine'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976279.html. 
  17. ^ Thompson, Anne (29 November, 2007). "Hollywood's new scapegoat". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976784.html. 
  18. ^ Akbar, Arifa (13 November, 2009). "Underworld tale won't see light of day". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-diary-shantaram-film--lumiere-festival-tom-atkinson-hans-holbein-harold-evans-1819450.html. 

External links