'Shantaram', a novel set largely in Mumbai, was written by:

"Shantaram" is a novel by the Australian writer Gregory David Roberts, published in 2003. It is based partly on his own life.

About the novel:

• The narrator, Lin (Lindsay), is an Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escapes from a maximum-security prison in Australia and flees to Bombay (Mumbai) on a false passport in the 1980s.
• In Bombay, he lives in a slum, where he runs a free health clinic, and the villagers give him the name "Shantaram" ("man of peace").
• He becomes involved with the Bombay underworld, working for a mafia boss, Abdel Khader Khan, in forgery, smuggling and black-market currency.
• The story also includes his love for Karla, a mysterious Swiss woman; his friendship with Prabaker, a cheerful taxi guide; a period in Arthur Road jail; and fighting with the mujahideen in Afghanistan.
• The Leopold Cafe in Colaba, Mumbai, which appears in the novel, became a tourist attraction.
• The novel is very long (over 900 pages) and became an international best-seller.
• A sequel, "The Mountain Shadow", was published in 2015.
• It was adapted into a television series (2022), starring Charlie Hunnam.

About Gregory David Roberts:

• He was born in 1952 in Melbourne, Australia.
• He escaped from Pentridge Prison in Melbourne in 1980 and spent about ten years as a fugitive, mostly in Bombay.

He was captured in Frankfurt in 1990, returned to Australia, and served the rest of his sentence. He wrote "Shantaram" during and after his imprisonment.

Other books about Mumbai:

• Suketu Mehta: "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found" (2004), non-fiction.
• Salman Rushdie: "Midnight's Children" and "The Moor's Last Sigh".
• Vikram Chandra: "Sacred Games" (2006), a crime novel, made into a Netflix series (2018).
• Rohinton Mistry: "Such a Long Journey" and "A Fine Balance".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Suketu Mehta wrote "Maximum City".
• ✗Salman Rushdie wrote "Midnight's Children".
• ✗Vikram Chandra wrote "Sacred Games".