Ma Anand Sheela: 'Priyanka Chopra Did Not Take Permission Before Announcing Biopic, My Choice Was Alia Bhatt'

Born in 1949, Ma Anand Sheela served as an aide to Rajneesh, popularly known as Osho, before they had a falling out. She worked as the personal secretary to Osho from 1981 through 1985. She came into the limelight after the documentary Wild Wild Country was released on Netflix in 2018.

Priyanka Chopra and Alia Bhatt were both said to play Ma Anand Sheela in two competing biopics. However, Ma Anand Sheela recently revealed that she wanted the Gangubai Kathiawadi actress to play her in the biopic.

In an interview shared on the Daasta YouTube channel, she also revealed that Priyanka did not seek her permission before announcing the project based on her life.

“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," she added.

Meanwhile, earlier, it was reported that Ma Anand Sheela had sent a legal notice to Priyanka Chopra as she did not want the actress to play her on-screen.

Ma Anand Sheela told Hindustan Times, "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."