Filming of Shantaram to start in January

Director Mira Nair poses during a photocall at Rome's first international film festival in this October 16, 2006 file photo. Nair will next year start filming ''Shantaram'', a film based on the bestselling novel by an escaped convict and that stars Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan, an Indian newspaper reported on Friday.

MUMBAI (Reuters Life!) - Acclaimed director Mira Nair will next year start filming "Shantaram", a film based on the bestselling novel by an escaped convict and that stars Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan, an Indian newspaper reported on Friday.

The film, an adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' novel, describes his escape from an Australian prison to Mumbai and his adventures with the city's powerful mafia.

Roberts' book, an international bestseller, also narrates his subsequent arrest and extradition to Australia and then his coming back to Mumbai, where he has set up a free health service for the poor and also does some teaching.

"The official date for the start of the movie version of Shantaram starring Amitabh Bachchan and Johnny Depp has been set for January 19, 2008," Roberts told the DNA daily.

The newspaper also said that Depp might stay with the Bachchans when he visits India for shooting.