A wonderfully insightful interview with Gregory David Roberts has been published on the great website dnaindia.com over the weekend.

Among the interesting clues given are that Gregory has now ‘just wrapped up the third book of my planned trilogy‘ (The Mountain Shadow) and that he is starting a production company to write for the big screen.

This is welcome news for all people waiting for the Shantaram sequel, knowing that now there should be very little delay in getting the next novel published, we should see it in stores by the third quarter of this year. Greg also indicates that the prequel to shantaram in the triology is already underway and being written! Interestingly absent from the discussion is any mention of the movie however, and besides Greg’s own work in the movie arena fans may or may not be dissapointed with the lack of news on this Mira Nair project.

I’m sure a Marathi edition of Shantaram is a must buy for any fan wanting a memento hailing to the book’s finest characters, but there’s no word yet on if it is available or where you can get a copy! Let us know in the comments if you find one, or post your pictures to the Shantaram Flickr group!

Of the most interesting revelations are the allegorical texts applied to the novel, and the application of no less than 22 layers to the structure of the novel. Some of these prove to be interesting for the fact that they tell just how Greg worked the multi-faceted parts of the novel together, using simple, but highly effective methods to engage the reader in the ‘exile experience’ that the novel explores. Greg further elaborated on the themes of the novel, and goes into detail on how the trilogy works a whole.

The surprising element of this essay is in fact that despite its revealing nature it doesn’t dampen or in any way remove the brilliance from the novel. Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

Head on over to check out the letter from Greg, and read up on all the news. www.Shantaram.com

Roberts said, ”I am currently penning scripts both for Hollywood and Bollywood films.” When asked about his genre of interest, the writer, who ”is writing so much” replied, ”I have penned scripts ranging from the typical Bollywood romantic comedies to horror, drama and science fiction.” ”A Bollywood film, based on one of my scripts, might be out by the end of 2010,” he shared.

The website also confirms what we know about the movie being shelved, but interestingly notes the project could see the light by 2011 (we previously reported this date, but cannot confirm this is true in light of recent reports about the state of the movie).

There’s a little more insight over on the site, and we encourage you to go read the rest of the article now, as it’s a great read. The bicycle repair scheme sounds really wonderful!.

Let us know what you think.

Shantaram movie ‘shelved’.

UK newspaper The Independent published an article on Friday wherein Mira Nair reportedly told actor Amitabh Bachchan that she was told the project was ‘shelved’, and with no other speculation as to why this was the case.

For fans of the movie, this comes as little surprise as we reported back in May that rumours has surfaced that Johnny Depp had stalled the production of Shantaram stating concerns over security. It appears that Mira’s attempts to steer the project back to filming in India were not as successful as she had hoped.

The Mountain Shadow

Note: the following dates are known to be delayed
Fans will just have to wait for the new book, The Mountain Shadow, showing as being published on amazon.com on February 4th 2012, in an ‘Export ed edition’ by Little & Brown publishers. On the UK and European amazon sites the date is set as 2nd September the same year (and the same publisher). Full details copied below:

Please bear in mind that dates indicated are probably not firm, but a guideline.

Amazon.com
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown; Export ed edition (February 4, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1408701626
ISBN-13: 978-1408701621

Amazon.co.uk (And most European-based Amazon sites also)
Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown (2 Sep 2010)
ISBN-10: 1408701618
ISBN-13: 978-1408701614

I think fans will be pleased at least with this news, in the knowledge that a new novel from Gregory David Roberts will take his storytelling in a new direction with at least a a few of the characters we knew so well from Shantaram.

Give us your thoughts in the comment area below!