Shantaram

Apple's Shantaram barely scratches the surface in the 12 episodes of its densely plotted, occasionally overripe first season. ... Effortlessly charismatic Charlie Hunnam. ... Guide/sidekick Prabhu (charming Shubham Saraf), whose generous grin could melt anyone's heart. He's worthy of his own series. [24 Oct - 6 Nov 2022, p.6]

At twelve hour-long episodes (for its first season alone), it’s a lot to get through, and more than a little bloated as a result. But in adapting Gregory David Roberts’ acclaimed 2003 novel to the screen, showrunner Steve Lightfoot (“Hannibal,” “The Punisher”) has crafted a show that captures the spirit of its source material, albeit in a slightly stretched-out package. ... It’s easy to get lost in the sprawl of Bombay and its vibrant international cast of characters, and wonder just what roads his salvation may take him down in future seasons.

Even when one is wishing that “Shantaram” would turn up the narrative heat a bit, it’s an engaging drama. There’s not a single weak performance and several very good ones (Hunnam, Siddig, and Desplat being stand-outs).

There’s nothing stiff or stuffy about “Shantaram,” but the quality is high enough to qualify as prestige television, a term that gets harder to define by the day. This is a universe to get lost in, much as Lin must lose himself in his adopted home.

Hunnam is a strong choice of a lead, and the supporting cast is similarly strong. ... It’s hard to discern an organizing principle. And even when you’re swept along in the narrative, that underlying question mark remains, and somewhat diminishes the strong acting and the wonderful cinematography (Bombay, in all its messy grandeur, is a star here).

Obviously "Shantaram" is your basic sprawling story set in an exotic location with an internationally diverse cast. It repeats itself, occasionally flies in the face of plausibility, and has a tendency to stagger instead of sprint. But Hunnam charges through it all, determined to bring the essentially flawed Lin to life. Ultimately he succeeds.

Shantaram doesn’t really dig too deep into the issues facing India in the 1980s, or how an expat like Hunnam’s character fits in given those issues. It’s a slow-moving thriller that we hope picks up some momentum as the series goes along.

What we ended up with is a decently acted, handsomely produced, generally disjointed and insufficiently curated sprawl — not bad but far from an epic triumph.

The first three episodes, released this Friday, are by no means bad TV. For the most part, the characters are complex, the story is interesting and, if you haven’t read the book, sometimes unexpected. But there are plenty more nuanced, modern takes on adventure stories based in India — the BBC’s A Suitable Boy is a good place to start.

Shantaram suffers from a problem that is symptomatic of the streaming era: Despite the novel’s 900-plus pages, the series should have been a movie.

There’s a certain ticking-clock element to Lin’s anticipation of danger that adds chewiness and tension to Bharat Nalluri’s able direction, although given the 12 hourlong episodes, one comes to wish “Shantaram’s” clock might tick a bit more rapidly. And Lin’s confessions to the audience can have an expatriate headiness that becomes repetitious.

Hunnam is charming and riveting, bringing depth and expressiveness to Lin, and Saraf is a treat. But they can’t overcome below-average performances from the rest of the ensemble, who often feature cartoonish accents.

The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. ... Things move sluggishly – after a snappy opening in which Lin escapes from prison – and the action could have been sharpened up considerably by condensing things into fewer instalments.