Why Did Apple TV+ Cancel ‘Shantaram’ After Only One Season?

The drama series, Shantaram has been given the boot by Apple TV+ after airing only one season. 

Based on Gregory David Roberts’ 2003 novel of the same title, the series saw Australian fugitive Lin Ford, a character brought to life by Charlie Hunnam, on the run in 1980s Bombay.

According to the streamer, Shantaram was unable to create a buzz like other Apple TV's hit series. However, this comes as a surprise given 89% of Google Users upvoted the show, which is a better-than-average rating. 

The series also scores 7.6/10 on IMDb and 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a high audience ranking of 83%. Critics have applauded Hunnam’s appealing portrayal of the lead character but roasted the series’ lack of a propelling storyline, which leaves Hunnam’s character trapped.

Hunnam, who also served as the show's producer, mentioned before news of the cancelation in October that he believed Shantaram was meant to run for a longer period. 'When I read the book, I immediately thought about it long-form, thinking of a story told over 30, 40 or 50 hours,' he said in his interview with Collider. 

The English actor disclosed that he fell in love with Robert’s novel when he first read it seven years ago, expressing interest to make a TV adaptation. However, he didn't succeed because the rights were owned by Warner Bros., who had planned to make a film adaptation starring Johnny Depp in 2008 but failed. 

After years of trying to hire the rights and almost giving up, Apple TV came on board on turning the book into a series.

Besides Hunnam, Shantaram starred Antonia Desplat, Elektra Kilbey, Sujaya Dasgupta, Shubham Saraf, Alexander Siddig, Fayssal Bazzi, Gabrielle Scharnitzky, Rachel Kamath, Elham Ehsas, Vincent Perez, Luke Pasqualino, Mel Odedra, Shiv Palekar, Alyy Khan, David Field, Rahel Romahn and Arka Das.

Shantaram spanned 12 episodes, with the series finale aired on Friday, December 16. Here's the list guide below:

• Episode 1: The Bombay No

• Episode 2: Down and Out in Bombay

• Episode 3: Strange Bedfellows 

• Episode 4: Bad Medicine 

• Episode 5: The Sin in the Crime

• Episode 6: Dead Man Walking

• Episode 7: Apo Vai Pranah 

• Episode 8: Like in the Time of Cholera

• Episode 9: Should I Stay or Should I Go

• Episode 10: Dig Two Graves 

• Episode 11: Banquet of Consequences

• Episode 12: All the Way from There Just to Get to Here