This was posted on the Zone. Does not sound good... :(


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=16649306

Mira Nair Hoping to Resume Shantaram Fall 2008

Excerpt from NPR interview
Broadcast November 27, 2007
ALISON STEWART: host

STEWART: What next for you?

Prof. NAIR: Well, I’m just coping with the, you know, hard news that my film that I had worked on for almost a year, “Shantaram,” which is this fantastic epic with Johnny Depp, in India mostly, has been postponed from the writers strike just only last week.

So that’s been, you know, hard to shift gears with that one because I’m already deep in it and dreaming in scenes and so on; we were supposed to shoot in a couple of months. But, you know, life must be lived in the present, and that’s what I am trying to do.

The thing I’m doing specifically is going to work quite carefully on the musical version of “Monsoon Wedding” that we hope to take to Broadway, as well as this new film I’ve just finished called the “AIDS Jaago Series” for 20- minute dramatic films with three other cutting-edge directors in India using movie stars and using sort of entertaining ways of making - we hope riveting cinema to wake people up to the myths and misconceptions of HIV/AIDS in India. And this series has become quite a hit, and we are going off to various film festivals to promote it before we open it in India on the first of December on World AIDS Day. So that’s something that I’m currently involved with, but will be heading soon to the musical of “Monsoon Wedding.”

STEWART: Well, that sounds exciting. What’s the reality of the film that Johnny Depp - I did read about that on the Internet.

Prof. NAIR: “Shantaram.”

STEWART: …what’s the reality of that coming true?

Prof. NAIR: The reality is that they have postponed it, really, until the strike is settled, but there’s no guarantee when that would happen, but we’re hoping to resume the film in fall, 2008.

STEWART: All right. Well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Prof. NAIR: (Hindu spoken), if God is willing.

Thanks a lot for the article!!!

Reading this I really feel sorry for Mira Nair and everyone involved in the project. And also myself can't really wait to see Shantaram coming to life. So the situation is rather uncomfortable. On the other hand I also understand why it is so important that the writers do that strike now. So I just hope that everything will be settled in favour of everyone soon. And after all, Fall 2008 is not as early as everyone would have hoped, but it is a date. And as long as everyone's willing to continue with Shantaram (and I'm sure no-one's given up on it), we can be assured that at some point the movie will be made. So that's a relieving thought.

I'm happy to see that Nair is talking about a future date at all. I've been worried that Warner Bros would drop it entirely. Late fall would be the earliest it could start now that pre-production has shut down. The monsoon season in Mumbai starts in mid summer and lasts through September. There's no way they could shoot during those rains. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the writers will settle soon and one or more of Johnny's other projects will get fitted in to the free time that Shantaram's postponement leaves.

From a university website:

http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/e...r/physical.html

That's a lot of rain on top of intense heat. A fall through winter shoot will catch Mumbai at its most comfortable temperatures. Sounds like a good plan to me!

Everything happens for a reason, so as long as they're still talking about it being made, I'm happy. :)

-Donna

Right. Maybe there's time for him to do something else. Or maybe they could film the parts of Shantaram they're planning to film in New Mexico early, during the spring/summer, and catch the Mumbai part in the fall...? (hope hope!)