The controversial Ma Anand Sheela, best known for serving as Osho’s aide in Oregon before they acrimoniously parted ways, spoke about the two competing biopics that were announced about her life, starring Priyanka Chopra and Alia Bhatt. While neither has taken off, Sheela said that she has given her blessing only to the project starring Alia.
In an interview, Sheela said that neither Priyanka nor director Barry Levinson sought her permission before announcing a project about her life. On the other hand, Sheela felt that she used to look like Alia when she was younger, which is partially why she approved her for the role.
Asked about why she shot down Priyanka, Sheela said on the YouTube channel Daasta, “She has never asked me officially. Director has also not asked. I have only been asked about this by journalists. My choice was Alia Bhatt, because when I was younger, I looked like her.”
In the past, Sheela had said that she had sent Priyanka an email asking her to cease production of the project. “I told her I do not give her permission to do [the] film because I have not chosen her… In Switzerland, we send legal notices very simply. I sent her an email which is accepted there as legal,” she told Hindustan Times.
The Alia project was set to be directed by Shakun Batra; he said in 2021 that it was supposed to be a series, but had been put on the back burner as he focused on releasing his last film, Gehraiyaan. Batra executive produced a documentary about Sheela’s visit to India some years ago. Titled Searching for Sheela, the hour-long film was released on Netflix, and also featured a segment in which Sheela was interviewed by Karan Johar.
Sheela rose to prominence after the release of the hit Netflix true crime documentary series Wild Wild Country, which documented Osho’s growing influence in the US, and the terrorism plot in which Sheela and other members of the commune were indicted. She fled to Switzerland, where she started a new life. Alia and Priyanka were cast alongside Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar’s Jee Le Zaraa, but that project has also not taken off.
