AceShowbiz -

Quickly nabbing her next stint in filmmaking after "The Namesake", Mira Nair has been confirmed to be the helmer of "Shantaram", a collaborative big screen project between Warner Bros. Pictures and Initial Entertainment Group.

Based on Gregory David Roberts' novel of the same title, the action drama follows an Australian heroin addict as he reinvents himself as a doctor in Bombay after escaping from a maximum-security prison. Eric Roth is on duty to pen the script with Johnny Depp to both star in and produce via his Infinitum Nihil. Filming is likely to begin this fall for a possible 2008 release.

Nair, a New York-based filmmaker of Indian ethnicity, first made her path in directing field through a few of documentary features before received vast recognition for her work in "Monsoon Wedding." Her other directing credits include "Salaam Bombay!", "The Perez Family", "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love", and "Vanity Fair."