Priyanka Chopra Jonas to play Ma Anand Sheela in Amazon film ‘Sheela’

PTI, Feb 21, 2020, 7:00 PM IST

Los Angeles: Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas is set to star as Ma Anand Sheela in Amazon Studios’ movie “Sheela”,

Ma Anand Sheela, who was made famous by Netflix’s docuseries “Wild Wild Country”, was the personal secretary of Osho from 1981-1985 and she managed the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon.

She was a spiritual adviser and the primary perpetrator of the 1984 Rajneesh bioterror attack in Oregon.

Post the attack she fled to Europe as a fugitive accused of arson, wiretapping, attempted murder, and mass poisonings. She would plead guilty to attempted murder and assault for her role and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and paroled after 39 months.

“Rain Man” director Barry Levinson will helm “Sheela”, which was written by Nick Yarborough, reported Deadline.

Priyanka will produce the movie through her Purple Pebble Pictures, along with Levinson’s Baltimore Pictures and Permut Presentations’ David Permut and Jason Sosnoff.

The actor is also set to play a lead in “The Matrix” reboot and stars in the Netflix films “We Can Be Heroes” as well as Ramin Bahrani-directed “The White Tiger”.