Early last year, Netflix’s Wild, Wild Country docuseries on the Rajneeshee cult in 80s Oregon flickered across dimly-lit laptops of millennials everywhere, proving what we already knew to be true — everyone is absolutely obsessed with cults. Chapman and Maclain Way’s series documented the freewheeling followers of the enigmatic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, from the cult’s inception at an ashram in India to the ultimate demise of their utopian city in the Oregon desert. Despite carrying out the first bioterror attack in the US, and massive illegal wiretapping initiatives, it became clear that the most captivating character was Bagwan’s top aide Ma Anand Sheela. And the good news is, Priyanka Chopra is developing a feature film with director Barry Levinson to hone in on Sheela’s story.
“We’re developing it as the character of Sheela… his right hand woman,” Priyanka said on Ellen. “She was just devious and created like a whole cult in America, brought people here… it was amazing.” The actress said she plans to produce and star in the film, so our best guess is that she’ll take on the role of Sheela, who is alive and well and living in Switzerland.
The 69-year-old woman served time for immigration fraud and attempted murder, but she now runs health clinics for people with alzheimer’s and dementia. As the Way brothers sorted through archival footage to make Wild, Wild Country, they saw a stark difference between the evil terrorist Rajneeshee Sheela and the woman they interviewed. “We would see this really feisty, foul-mouthed, provocative Indian woman who wasn’t taking crap from anyone. She was speaking her mind, and we were just blown away. We were immediately fascinated by her. We knew that if we wanted to do this in a longform series it would be really great to hear her perspective of these events,” the directors told i-D. “She seemed a little reluctant at first, but as soon as we started talking about the story, she started telling us that she felt like she’s never really been given a platform to tell her side of the story.”
Priyanka did not reveal how far along her and Barry are on the project, so we might have to wait awhile. Tough titties.