The Geordie native has added a new dialect to his catalogue in new action-thriller series Shantaram. In Apple TV+’s latest offering, which is based on a best-selling 2003 novel of the same name, Hunnam stars as Lin, an escaped convict from Australia searching for meaning and redemption in the bustling streets of Mumbai in the 1980s.

It’s kind of giving Best Exotic Marigold Hotel vibes, but with more fighting and abs. Any similarities between the two end there though, as Charlie’s character is plunged further into the city’s shady underworld and the chaos of its slums. Increasingly torn between his two lives, Lin has to discover whether it’s ever possible to escape your past. Sounds juicy?

The show is co-created by Eric Warren Singer, known for his work as a screenwriter for 2013’s American Hustle and, more recently, the film that shattered the notion people don’t like going to the movies, Top Gun: Maverick. It’s also being led by fellow co-creator Steven Lightfoot, known for his work on NBC’s Hannibal as well as Netflix series The Punisher and Behind Her Eyes. With those previous offerings in mind, it’s safe to assume Shantaram will be pulling no punches when comes to the gritty reality of Lin’s world in 1980s India.

Here’s everything else we know about Shantaram.

HERE IS THE TRAILER

We see Hunnam, who’s been attached to the role since 2019, detail his life as a convict in Australia before making a bid for freedom and ultimately settling in Mumbai’s vibrant city streets. We also see fellow stars Antonia Desplat, Shubham Saraf, Elektra Kilbey and Fayssal Bazzi pop up too.

The series will launch on Apple TV+ on 14 October with its first three episodes. After that, a new episode will drop weekly for the rest of its 12-episode run.

The series is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory David Roberts and loosely based on his life as a convicted bank robber who escaped prison and fled to India in the 1980s. So far, so in line with the synopsis. While the real-life details of Robert’s conviction, imprisonment and escape are held to be true, other details of the book, like certain characters and key plot points that take place, are largely considered to be an amalgamation of a lot of different people and events. Roberts has said the book is a novel rather than an autobiography, so it’s safe to assume at least some bits are more fiction than fact.