Priyanka Chopra will portray Indian-born convicted bioterrorist Ma Anand Sheela in upcoming movie
Priyanka Chopra will portray convicted bioterrorist Ma Anand Sheela in an upcoming film by Amazon Studios.
The 37-year-old Indian actress will star in the film Sheela directed by Barry Levinson, 77, according to an article Thursday by Deadline.
Indian-born Sheela was the former spokeswoman of the Rajneesh movement and was the personal secretary of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh from 1981 through 1985.
New role: Priyanka Chopra, shown in October 2019 in New York City, will portray convicted bioterrorist Ma Anand Sheela in an upcoming film by Amazon Studios
She pleaded guilty in 1986 to attempted murder and assault for her role in the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack in Oregon.
Rajneesh and Sheela were the subject of the 2018 Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country.
Sheela was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and was paroled after 39 months.
Chopra also was set to co-produce the movie via her Purple Pebble America production company.
Convicted bioterrorist: Sheela is shown in her 1985 mugshot taken in Multnomah County, Oregon
The script for Sheela will be written by Nick Yarborough.
Chopra mentioned the project in March 2019 while appearing on the Bravo talk show Watch What Happens Live.
The actress was asked if she had met Sheela, 70, but Chopra said she had yet to meet her though she wanted to portray her in the project she was developing with Levinson.
Also producing: Priyanka, shown in January in Miami, mentioned the Sheela project was under development in March 2019 on Watch What Happens Live
‘It’s far away right now, but hopefully it will happen,’ Chopra said back then.
Chopra also will star in the upcoming Netflix films The White Tiger adapted from the novel and the superhero film We Can Be Heroes by Robert Rodriguez.
The Quantico star has been married since 2018 to singer Nick Jonas, 27.
Netflix docuseries: Sheela, shown in May 2018 in Barcelona, Spain, and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh were the subject of the 2018 Netflix docuseries Wild Wild Country
Cute couple: Chopra and Nick Jonas, shown last month in Los Angeles, have been married since 2018