Shantaram

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.