Subhash Ghai to produce international biopic on Osho Rajneesh

Osho Rajneesh's story, which was the subject of Netflix's blockbuster documentary "Wild Wild Country", is getting another screen birth with Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai slated to co-produce a biopic on the controversial spiritual guru with an Italian production house.

The project, titled "Osho: The Other Side of the Ocean" was announced at the ongoing Cannes International Film Festival.

"I am proud to announce an international film 'Osho: The Other Side of the Ocean' as a producer under Indo-Italian co-production to be directed by Italian director Lakshen Sucameli in English language for global market on interesting and dramatic chapters of Osho's life from childhood till his death in 1990," Ghai told PTI.

Sucameli has co-written the story with "Rang De Basanti" fame Kamlesh Pandey.

A follower of Osho, Sucameli, has been developing the project for a while and had even set up a crowdfunding website.

In an interview to Osho News in 2010, the director had revealed the premise of the story.

The film "tells the story of a female journalist who follows Osho's life in America, then onto the world tour until his death in Pune in 1990," he had said.

"The main character is at first very sceptical towards Osho and his commune but changes her mind through time... In this way I hope to catch the attention of those who still see Osho with a negative attitude, which includes a large part of movie goers, especially in the States," Sucameli had said.

Rajneesh's move to America was the subject of "Wild Wild Country" where the directors explored the rise of the cult in Oregon, America, the internal politics of the commune and the distrust of the locals towards the guru and followers.

The commune did not survive for long and Rajneesh was arrested while trying to flee Oregon. He left the US and returned to his ashram in Pune.