Mumbai, Dec 19 (IANS) Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who will be sharing most of his screen space in Mira Nair's film with Hollywood veteran Johny Depp in 'Shantaram', admires the NRI director for making an impact on foreign shores.

'Mira has been meeting me off and on for a long time. She wanted me to be in her (aborted) 'Buddha'. Hopefully, my contribution to 'Shantaram' will be substantial and worthwhile. You've to admire Mira for being a lady from India and making such an impact globally, You've to admire her for her guts and enterprising spirit,' the Big B told IANS.

The Big B will be playing Kaderbhai, a benign gangster in Mumbai, who becomes Depp's mentor and surrogate father in the film version of Gregory David Roberts' semi-autobiographical bestseller about an escaped Australian convict who finally ends up in Mumbai's underworld.

Nair is probably the second female director in the Big B's 35-year-old career. He earlier worked with Honey Irani in 'Armaan'. He also intends to work with Deepa Mehta shortly.