Shantaram follows Lin, a fugitive Australian on the run from the law, who arrives in Bombay (now Mumbai) in the 1980s with nothing but a fake passport and a past full of crime and chaos.
After escaping from an Australian prison, Lin meets a friendly local guide named Prabaker, who becomes his first friend in the city and gives him the nickname “Lin.”
Stranded and robbed early on, Lin ends up living among the people of Bombay’s bustling slums. To give back to the community, he starts a free health clinic, using basic medical skills to tend to others — showing his shift from criminal fugitive to someone finding purpose.
As Lin settles into life in India:
