Is Alia Bhatt still a part of Shakun Batra’s Osho biopic? The Kalank actress makes a surprising revelation

The idea of a biographical film on the controversial yet colourful life of Rajneesh Osho, coming from Shakun Batra, has been drifting around for a while, with talks of different actors expressing their enthusiasm in taking up the project. In the wake of Aamir Khan’s withdrawal from the film due to the alleged timing (upcoming film Mahabharat proving to be too Herculean of a task to be involved in any other endeavour) and budget (Khan demanding a larger-than-apt fee) issues, everyone’s still asking, what came of Alia’s interest in the project?

Bhatt had earlier revealed that she was approached with the idea for the movie by filmmaker Shakun Batra and had expressed a clear interest in taking on the project. However, it is unclear whether the project itself will be a go, due to the film still being in its primary inception stages, and several factors still undecided/unknown. With the news of Aamir Khan backing out as well, the project hangs in a balance, leaving fans wondering whether talks will amount to actual production or not. Still, it may be hard to fathom Alia Bhatt finding any time to squeeze a new project into her cray-busy schedule, with the shooting and release of many upcoming films including Kalank, Brahmastra, Inshallah, Takht, Sadak 2 and her entrance into South-Indian cinema with RRR.

This film, however, will not be Bollywood’s first attempt at an Osho biopic. The critically acclaimed 2016 film Rebellious Flower delved into the angle of Osho’s spiritual teachings and origin story. With the release of the widely popular Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country, many filmmakers are looking into the more controversial angles of Osho’s life, including the story of his right-hand woman Ma Anand Sheela and her involvement in the1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack. Interestingly, a film on her is already said to be in the works in Hollywood, with Academy-award winning director Barry Levinson and Priyanka Chopra. Apart from playing the lead role, the actress will produce the project as well. Let’s hope Batra can pull together a solid cast and plan for the film because we can rest assure that Alia Bhatt will definitely want to be a part of it.

Feature image credits: Varinder Chawla