Priyanka Chopra Jonas To Play Ma Anand Sheela In Amazon Studios Film

Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas will star as  Ma Anand Sheela in Amazon Studios’ movie Sheela. Ma Anand Sheela was the personal secretary of spiritual guru Rajneesh, known as Osho, for five years (1981-1985). Priyanka's Purple Pebble Pictures will also produce the movie that will be directed by Barry Levinson. Apart from Purple Pebble Pictures, the film will also be produced by Levinson's Baltimore Pictures and Permut Presentations' David Permut and Jason Sosnoff.

Ma Anand Sheela was a spiritual adviser who also managed the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. She spearheaded the infamous bioterror attack in Oregon in 1984.

Some Takeaways:

• Ma Anand Sheela was a spiritual adviser and personal secretary to spiritual guru Osho.  
• She managed the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon, United States.
• She was sentenced to federal prison for 20 years. However, she was given parole after 39 months.
• The 2018 Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country includes interviews with Sheela. In 2019 Karan Johar also interviewed her.

Read Also: Priyanka Chopra Donates 50,000 Pairs Of Shoes To Children In Belize

Ma Anand Sheela was a spiritual adviser who also managed the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. She spearheaded the infamous bioterror attack in Oregon in 1984. Rajneesh's followers poisoned the salad bars and restaurants of a nearby county, that led to a breakout of salmonella and left 750 people sick while no one died.

After the attack, Ma Anand Sheela fled to Europe. The runaway was accused of arson, wiretapping, attempted murder, and mass poisonings. She pleaded guilty to charges of immigration fraud, wiretapping and her role in salad bar poisoning and was sentenced to federal prison for 20 years. However, she was granted parole after serving for 39 months.

Netflix announced in 2019 that Sheela will star in a new documentary for the platform that will cover her first trip to India in over thirty years.

Priyanka recently revealed on The Ellen Show "I am developing a feature film with Barry Levinson. He did Rain Man and he is an iconic American director." She further added, "And we are developing it as the character of Sheela, who was this guru (Osho) who originated from India, his right-hand woman and she was just devious and created a whole cult in America and brought people here." She also added, "He was called Osho. I am developing that next for me to star in and produce in which I think would be really cool."

Chopra Jonas will also be seen soon in Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger with Rajkummar Rao and Robert Rodriguez’s We Can Be Heroes and The Matrix 4.

Read Also: Priyanka Chopra Speaks On The Need To Eradicate Poverty At WEF 2020

Ma Anand Sheela is also said to be the inspiration behind Kalki Koechlin's character in Netflix's Sacred Games 2. The 2018 Documentary  Wild Wild Country includes interviews with her while in 2019 Karan Johar also did an interview with her. In the same year, Netflix announced that Sheela will star in a new documentary that will cover her first trip to India in over thirty years.

Image Credit: Forbes India

Mansi is an Intern at SheThePeople.TV.