He wrote his book while in prison in Australia after being extradited from Germany. In the early 80s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum. Roberts, was known as 'the building society bandit' during his years as a criminal in Melbourne when he escaped from Pentridge in 1980 and was captured in Frankfurt a decade later. He fled to India after and became a part of the Bombay mafia.

With Roberts' own life mirroring the character's arc of Lindsay, the protagonist - a heroin addict who becomes a bank robber, gets caught and then escapes from prison in broad daylight becoming one of the country's most wanted men. Although the author, Roberts, has insisted that it was all spun out of thin air, few probably believe it. Needless to say, he's quite the mystery.Īn Australian man, whose life fell apart after a divorce in the most unimaginable way, Shantaram's story has long been debated as fact or fiction. Now, it has caught Apple TV +'s eye, with Charlie Hunnam set to play the character in a series based on the book. 2021 saw him release his first non-fiction book, The Spiritual Path, based on his experiences of being off grid for 6 years, fully devoted to a spiritual path.Įxpect the unexpected from this creative maverick as GDR continues to expand his music repertoire, write and create.It's been almost two decades give or take since Gregory David Roberts' 'Shantaram' captured the fancy of readers around the globe. GDR released his debut album Love&Faith in 2020, which takes you on a genre hopping musical journey through pop, R&B, country, house and reggae. A TV series, ‘Shantaram’ based on the book is due to air on Apple TV+ in October 2022 and is produced by Apple TV+, Paramount Pictures and Anonymous Content starring Charlie Hunnam as the lead. The follow-up novel, The Mountain Shadow, was released in 2015. It doesn’t matter how much of it is true or not to me, it’s how true they are to all of us, and to our common humanity.” GDR

They’re novels, not autobiographies, and all of the characters and dialogue is created. “Some experiences from my life are described pretty much as they happened, and others are created narratives, informed by my experience. The novel draws on Gregory David Robert’s raw experiences of life as a fugitive.

It has been translated into 44 languages and is sold in over 116 countries. He’s best known for his best-selling novel Shantaram, which has sold over 7 million copies and was hailed “a masterpiece” by critics. Gregory David Roberts (GDR), is an author, songwriter, composer and artist.

Roberts gregory david