For many longtime Oregonians, the memory of Ma Anand Sheela and her controversial tenure serving as the right-hand woman for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh when the guru and his followers were in Oregon, remains vivid. Now, Deadline reports that actress Priyanka Chopra will play Sheela in a new movie from Amazon Studios.

Chopra, who starred in the ABC series, “Quantico,” has been talking about developing the bizarre saga of Sheela and the Rajneeshees in Oregon -- which many viewers first heard about in the Netflix documentary series, “Wild Wild Country” -- for some time.

A year ago, for example, Chopra appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and said that she and director Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”) were working on developing a movie that was based on “Wild Wild Country.”

According to the Deadline story, the project is now moving forward, with Chopra starring as Ma Anand Sheela, and Levinson on board to direct, for Amazon Studios.

When she appeared with DeGeneres, Chopra described Ma Anand Sheela as a “devious” figure.

As Oregonians recall, and viewers of “Wild Wild Country” saw, the Bhagwan and Ma Anand Sheela came from India to settle in Wasco County, Oregon in the early 1980s. The Rajneeshee compound became controversial, and things got even more grim once the extent of Ma Anand Sheela’s actions came to light.

Among other things, Ma Anand Sheela and other commune leaders brought in homeless people in an attempt to win an election in Wasco County; there was the poisoning of salad bars and other businesses, which sickened hundreds of people in The Dalles; and there were plots to assassinate Oregon government officials.

Ma Anand Sheela ultimately served two years and five months in prison for attempted murder, arson, immigration fraud and food poisoning. After being granted parole, she later settled in Switzerland.

Ma Anand Sheela was interviewed for “Wild Wild Country,” in which she was critical of the attitudes of Oregonians toward members of the Rajneeshee community.

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-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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