O.K...I know we are all still reeling from the :sweeneytodd trailer release :D but have any of you mates heard ANYTHING about who may be cast as Prabaker, Didier, Karen, Lisa, Abdullah, etc???

With the filming scheduled to start in just over three months, it seems odd to me that there has been no information released.

Am I just jumping the gun here???

Annie

Annie I think we're all waiting for further casting news. The only known casting has been for Kadar Kan(sp?). We don't know exactly what characters will make it into te film as it's such a large book to film. Let's hope we hear something in the next few months. Nair may be going with more unknown actors for the other parts......just a guess.

-Donna


**I changed your title to lower case letters** :)

Good thoughts Donna, I think it's a bit early for casting news. :blink: The wait continues.

;) Thanks for the change and the thoughts, Donna!

Yes...this book was HUGE!!! So many characters, I loved it so much!!

Why oh why can't patience be my strong suiit???

Annie

I think Mira Nair is supposed to be in India now, is that right?
I also heard she's out of India to accept some award somewhere next month?
I do an internet search once a week, but nothing new comes up, even on the Bollywood pages. SO...one can only hope she's doing some casting as we speak. :crossfingers

Here are a couple of little funny things I found, unrelated to casting:
March 27, 2007:
Here (Interview with Mira Nair)
.....
Johnny Depp is going to play the lead in Shantaram. He is also one of its producers. What was your first impression of him?

People who have known him for long will tell you that he is a humble soul with great curiosity about the world. And those were my impressions too. He loves taking risks, and that is why you see him in big films such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, and smaller films like The Libertine. You never get the feeling that you are dealing with a movie star when you work with him. He is down-to-earth and very humane.


You made a detailed presentation to Depp of your vision for Shantaram. How long did he take to approve it?

A few days. It was a thorough presentation, and many people were involved in helping him make the decision.

Had he seen The Namesake before that?

He had watched the film at a private screening. He gave me a big hug after the film was over.

You must have been overwhelmed?

I was very touched but I was also laughing within. My girlfriends had asked me to pinch his bottom. They wanted to have the vicarious thrill.

Did you tell him about it?

(Chuckles) No. But now I can tell him what they had asked me to do.

---The second one---
March 08, 2006

Here
And we laughed heartily as he(Gregory) imitated how Johnny Depp had done an animated Lin during characterisation sessions for the movie.

woohoo OMG, DEPPUTANTE!!! Thanks SO much for your post!! I had not read any of this before!!! This book, since reading it, has changed my outlook on so many issues, 'being an American' and all that rot.

Don't want to get too emotional...just know I appreciate all of your insight!!!

See you soon at Cafe Leopold's via the gutter??? :shistle

Annie

:D What I would give to see it!!!!

:shistle

Please remember that we are a flame free arena, that means no flaming against any one, any religion, any group, any race or any nationality or nation.

Thanks

My sincerest apologies...no disrespect intended towards anyone!

:(

No Probem, no offence taken here. (( ;) )) Karen is just keeping things straight, just in case, ya know. B) I just thought you were a little on the excited side of things! It reminds me of the first time I read Shantaram.

The novel does have the profound ability to change one's perspective on things, and show the meaningfulness of other cultures and the power they also have to change a person.

The little tidbits I found, just go to show, they're having alot of fun over there in India. I'm sure things will be coming together soon, though it may take a while before we hear any new news on casting because I think they're working on a bit of a different paradigm. ;)

Thanks for the response, Depputante. I'm feeling a bit in the 'dog house', so to speak.

This novel HAS made a profound impact on me and my views on the world and other cultures. Shantaram has inspired me to read other books, both fiction and non-fiction(Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Greg Mortenson's Three Cups Of Tea, etc.) that bring to light the human hardships people face in that part of the world.

More than ever, after reading these books, I feel very lucky to be an American with all the privileges that unfortunately. I take for granted.

This is truly an amazing novel and I have recommended it to many people.

Annie

Todays I noticed on IMDB that Cindy Tolan is listed as the Casting Director.
Doing a little research, she was nominated for her Cross-cultural casting in "The Namesake", also Directed by Mira Nair.


Things are beginning to come together.

Is this is common cultural thing over there? No kissing, but bottom pinching all around! hmmmm ;)
I'll volunteer to do it for ya, Mira. It's a tough job, but.......

Thanks Depputante! Let's hope that imdb got it right! ;)

Hopefully we'll be getting some casting names soon, and pics to go along for those of us who aren't savvy about Indian actors. :crossfingers

They say Johnny can be quite an 'imp' on set ~ which I interpret to mean clever, funny and up for a harmless romp or two ~ and it sounds like Mira Nair has a similar sense of humor and fun. And GDR too, of course. So this could be a really fun shoot!

http://www.nowrunning.com/News/News.asp?it=12471

Mira Nair gets first priority: Amitabh
Subhash K. Jha [Tuesday, October 23, 2007]

Mumbai, Oct 23 (IANS) The Big B is all set to get back to work with a vengeance. Foremost on his list of must-do are Mira Nair's "Shantaram" and Deepa Mehta's pseudo-historical "Exclusion".

While in principle the Big B has said yes to both the international projects, there seems to be a date problem around the corner. Both Mehta and Nair, seen as fierce rivals, want to shoot their projects in winter. Script and date-wise, Nair has an edge. And the Bollywood icon says he will start shooting for Nair's film as he has already allocated her the dates.

"I've already committed my dates to Mira whereas Deepa is yet to finish her script or lock in on the dates. So naturally Mira gets first priority," Amitabh told IANS.

Canada-based Mehta says her script will take some time.

"After 'Water' I'm locked away right now working on the script. It's not something I can rush through because it requires historic detailing. 'Exclusion' would be my toughest film ever," said Mehta.

As far as casting goes Mehta has already zeroed in on Terence Stamp, John Abraham and of course, the Big B, who incidentally loved both Mehta's "Water" and Nair's "The Namesake" and would ideally not like to relinquish either project.

"I don't know why Mira and I are constantly being put in confrontational situations! I loved her 'The Namesake' and she liked my 'Water'. Now if we're both casting Mr. Bachchan, it shouldn't become a tug 'o' war between us," Mehta said.

Thanks for this news, Depputante, also for the info on Cindy Tolan as casting director.

I have seen three of Ms. Nair's movies...Mississippi Masasa, The Perez Family and Hysterical Blindness, really liked all of them quite well. I haven't seen Namesake yet. I wish I knew more about it! Have it reserved on Netflix and is listed to be available sometime in November.

Thanks again, Depputante!

Annie

I've found some data, though not sure how new/old reliable it is, but I wanted to throw this name into the 'time will tell' pot.

FRANKA POTENTE .
It has been 'announced' and is supposed to be 'in talks' of being in Shantaram.
Thought I couldn't find ALOT of references to her and Shantaram.
She's also done Bourne Identity 2/3. and Blow. and something of her with Benicio del Toro.
She looks like a good Karla to me. :crossfingers

Thanks Depputante, but can you please post the link to where this info originated? I think it's definately time will tell and unless it's from a reliable source, it needs to be in the time will tell area. Thanks

This rumor came out quite awhile ago, perhaps before Nair was on board. I haven't heard it mentioned since. I was looking through my notes to see if I had saved it (didn't) but found this statement by GDR on his casting choices:

Thanks Fan!

Sure. It's in Cinematical.com as well as a number of web pages.

Here's the most reiliable? source so far...:

http://www.franka-potente.org/filmography.php

Thanks Depputante! ;)

The frankapotente.org site is a fansite so not fully reliable. From what I can find, she's currently filming a two film project about Che Guevara. Following that it looks like she is lined up for something called Pope Joan, due to film early in 2008 although that project has had many delays. I did a quick google search and found on tv.com a mention of the Shantaram rumor from mid-2006. Earlier this year a thread on imdb mentioned an interview with her from 2006 that asked about Shantaram. That was after Weir left the project and she didn't know anything further at that time. I hope we hear something about someone soon!

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm so we are back at square one?

You know, I've been checking Bollywood sites almost daily for a month now, and nothing new seems to be on any pages.

Shouldn't the casting be about finished by now? They've only got about 8 weeks left to get that part done!

There should be some sort of announcement, shouldn't there? :huh:

Maybe, maybe not. Often times, as wierd as it seems the actual contracts are not signed until just prior to the beginning of production.

Peachy on JDZ saw Roerts at a lecture in Italy a few weeks ago. He said that Eric Roth, Nair and Depp had been hard at work to finish revisions to the script. It sounded like Nair's first priority, especially with the then impending strike, was to get the shooting script in finalized form. I assume she then needs to get studio approvals in place before signing on more of the actors. She's got a huge responsiblity on her shoulders with the writers' strike now in progress, studios looking for ways to trim budgets, a SAG strike a real possibility making timing for filming critical. When we start to hear more casting announcements it will be cause for celebration. It will almost certainly mean that the studio has signed off on budget and script. I'm keeping fingers crossed that the people who are right for the roles will be available.

I haven't been here for a while now, wish there was a general thread for expressing thanks for all the wonderful info that's been shared about Sweeney Todd cause it's been great reading through all of that now that I've finally returned to the board!

As for the casting, I don't have any real news... But I'll just add one tidbit which might or might not be relevant... There's been speculation (mentioned on these boards in the past) that Shahrukh Khan has been approached for the part of Qasim. There's still been no news confirming this, but it's pretty certain at the moment that he has the dates for it because two of the projects he was meant to shoot for in the first half of 2008 have not worked out.
The interview is here and the relevant fragment is:

Are you planning to only work in your home productions from now on? Not counting one film a year for Karan Johar and Yash Chopra?
It’s not like that. I would do any film. Unfortunately, the other one I was supposed to do with Vinod (Chopra) has not worked out because I wanted a little more time for Robot, and now Robot has also not worked out. So I am free now to do things. I am unemployed for the next eight months.

I've no idea if this means that he has been approached or will be approached for Shantaram. There's nothing firm on this. And I doubt he'd say yes if the script isn't finalized. The biggest Bollywood stars tend to be very careful about treading into Hollywood terrirotory, so there's still loads of possible reasons for Shahrukh not to take it. But the yahoo article from ages back did imply dates could be a problem, so I guess that problem is no longer an issue...
On a slightly off-topic note, it seems more and more of the big Bollywood stars *are* going to venture into Hollywood. Hrithik (who you may remember from this clip - I believe that of all the Bollywood stars I introduced he got the most interest ;) ) may make his debut in Hollywood - see here.

Thanks rozoweskarpetki for the updated info, it's such a frustrating wait.

And thanks also for the thanks about the Sweeney news. I guess there's no general thread because I can't thank myself. lol But I do appreciate your very kind words. :thumbsup