Depp Trouble

If we tell you that Johnny Depp will be heading off to Afghanistan in the near future then you will, in all likelihood, conjure visions of Sean Penn's ill-advised trip to Iraq. This will lead to bitter tears over the handsome star's likely capture by insurgents and subsequent torture to make him repent of his sins (The Astronaut's Wife, for example). Depp, you see, is to star in (and produce) Shantaram, an adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' bestselling novel. Set in the 1980s and spanning three continents, the story begins with Lin (Depp) escaping from a high security Australian jail and making his way to safety in India. Once there he meets Prabakar, a guide who introduces him to the shady Indian underworld of beggars and gangsters, all trying to escape from pasts they'd rather forget. It is among the underclasses and criminals that he meets Karla, a Swiss-American operating an illegal free clinic. The subsequent story is as unpredictable as the British weather and let's just say it leads to prison, torture, an apprenticeship with the Bombay mafia, betrayal and a journey to Afghanistan to fight a guerrilla war against the Russians