'Shantaram' first look: Charlie Hunnam rides a bike in Bombay slums. See photo

The first look from Apple TV+ series ‘Shantaram’ is here. The India-set series stars English actor Charlie Hunnam in the lead role. It is an adaptation of Australian author Gregory David Roberts’ bestselling novel of the same name. The story follows Lin Ford (played by Hunnam) who escapes from his crimes in Australia and rebuilds a new life in 1980s' Mumbai (then Bombay) as a doctor working in the slums. Mumbai was supposed to be just a pitstop in his journey to Germany, but he decides to settle. In Mumbai, he gets involved with the local mafia. Oh, and he also fights the Russian invaders in Afghanistan.

The novel is epic length (936 in paperback) and the story is truly huge. The project was earlier being developed at Warner Bros as a movie, but the novel is too unwieldy for a feature-length movie starring Johnny Depp. The series format fits it much better.

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The first look photo shows Hunnam riding a bike through what looks like a slum area. You can see the image for yourself below.

British screenwriter Steve Lightfoot, best known for 'Hannibal' and Marvel's 'The Punisher', is behind 'Shantaram'.

As per Deadline, Shubham Saraf, Elektra Kilbey, Fayssal Bazzi, Luke Pasqualino, Alyy Khan, Sujaya Dasgupta, Vincent Perez, David Field, Alexander Siddig, Gabrielle Scharnitzky, Elham Ehsas, Rachel Kamath, Matthew Joseph and Shiv Palekar also star in the series.

'Shantaram' will premiere on Apple TV+ with three episodes and then subsequent episodes will premiere every week. There will be a total of 12 episodes in the series.