On 22nd July 1986, Ma Anand Sheela was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment by the US court of law, on multiple charges of assault, wiretapping and poisoning. However, she was released 39 months later to her good behaviour. In 1990, Sheela started a special help home in Basel, Switzerland. Thirty five years later, Sheela finally gets the opportunity and clearances to visit India. 

Ma Anand Sheela was the closest aide to Bhagwan Rajneesh a.k.a. Osho. The 1-hour long Netflix documentary, Searching for Sheela has been produced by Karan Johar under Dharmatic Productions. After a long hiatus of 35 years, Sheela is returning to India to attend talk shows and interviews. So, the premise is set wonderfully. As the documentary proceeds, I felt there’s a lot of background story that I need to brush up, because a lot of scenes in this Netflix documentary didn’t make sense to me. Besides talk shows and interviews, Sheela meets with bourgeoisies who sip wine and complain about first-world problems. 

She was interviewed by journalists like Barkha Dutt and Shoma Chaudhary. On being asked about her jail time, crimes and past life with Osho – Sheela responded with inessential sass which might be entertaining but doesn’t provide any real answers. During her interviews she maintained diplomacy while answering questions. Shoma Chaudhary tried to dig some information by twisting the question, “Would you have poisoned a town, if it needed to be done?” Sheela maintains mundanity and replies, “I am my parents’ daughter who had learnt the correct values of life”. I really wished to shut my laptop down and sleep, that would’ve been a rather better use of my time. The makers have tried to add on a feminist angle here. But they’ve failed miserably. Sheela during a lot of her interviews said the love between her and Osho wasn’t unrequited or sexual rather it was equal and deeper than bodily pleasures. On the other hand, in one of Osho’s clips released by the media he called out Sheela derogatorily saying, “I do not love prostitutes”. Feminism cries in a corner.

The Netflix documentary directed by Shakun Batra makes absolutely zero effort to reveal the history behind Sheela’s fame, motivation behind her crimes, reasons why she fled away from Osho and her hardships while opening a help home for disabled people in Basel. The documentary could’ve worked deeply upon Sheela’s relationship with Osho and who Sheela is beyond the eyes of public Searching for Sheela is a hollow documentary with no facts to support her stance. It fails to add anything to the viewer’s knowledge. For me, it was as good as an Instagram influencer’s vlog.

If you are expecting Searching for Sheela to be a seasoned documentary, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a strict no-no for documentary lovers. For the ones who are expecting it to be filled with entertainment because Karan Johar’s name is associated with it, you too will be hugely disappointed. Even if you have all the time in the world, please binge your regular shows and skip this documentary if you value your time. 

RATING: 1/5