Yes, the charismatic villain of Wild, Wild Country, Ma Anand Sheela, is getting the Hollywood treatment, courtesy of Amazon and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Before Cheer and Don’t F**k With Cats, one of Netflix’s first successful, widely binged docuseries was Wild, Wild Country, which told the unbelievable story of the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon in the 1980s. “When the world’s most controversial guru builds a utopian city in the Oregon desert, a massive conflict with local ranchers ensues; producing the first bioterror attack in US history, the largest case of illegal wiretapping ever recorded, and the world’s biggest collection of Rolls-Royce automobiles,” the Netflix description reads. However, it was the controversial guru’s secretary—Sheela—that had the greatest impact on viewers when the series launched in 2018.
It was Sheela who organized the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history by infecting the salad bars at 10 local restaurants with salmonella, poisoning 751 individuals. Now she’s getting her own biopic. Here’s everything we know about the Amazon film Sheela so far.
Ma Anand Sheela in Wild, Wild Country
NetflixChopra Jonas will take on the role of Sheela as well as act as a producer on the film. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news on February 19, revealing that Chopra Jonas will be starring as the terrorist behind the 1984 Rajneeshee attack in Oregon. Rain Man’s Barry Levinson is set to direct Nick Yarborough’s script.
Sheela probably won’t watch it. In an interview with The Guardian, Sheela (who is still alive, BTW) revealed that she never watched the entire Netflix series that she took part in. As of 2018, she goes by Sheela Birnstiel and runs a nursing home in Switzerland. Oh, and according to the interview, she apparently feels no remorse at all for the events in Oregon. “Remorse for what?” she asks. “Having a good life?”
That’s all we know for now. Make sure to check back here for updates on casting news, trailers, and more. You can watch Wild, Wild Country on Netflix, here.
