In 2018, Wild Wild Country won the Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Nick Allen of wrote "by handling this story so intelligently and by opening its heart to a very complicated idea of good and evil, Wild Wild Country has a profound, mesmerizing power itself". The website's critical consensus reads, " Wild Wild Country succeeds as an intriguing examination of a forgotten piece of American history that must be seen to be believed." Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 46 critical responses and judged 98% of them to be positive, with an average rating of 8.08 out of 10.
After a bombing of a Rajneesh-owned hotel in Portland, Oregon in 1983, security increases dramatically at the ranch. Sheela begins buying up available properties in Antelope, a town of only 40 people, and the locals decide to disincorporate to prevent the Rajneeshees from taking political control.
The group 1000 Friends of Oregon initiates a court case to have the buildings of Rajneeshpuram destroyed. The documentary film Ashram in Poona: Bhagwans Experiment sparks concerns with Antelope locals. The American press begins to affiliate Rajneeshpuram with the Jonestown Massacre and paints Bhagwan as an antichrist and threat to Christianity. Locals describe their experiences of sannyasins and their mistrust towards Bhagwan. With the help of architects, engineers, city planners and commune residents, Rajneeshees construct a town called Rajneeshpuram, with its own power station, plumbing, roads, shopping centre, houses, hall, airport and a large meditation hall. The commune decides to become self-governing which would allow them to issue their own building permits, have separate law enforcement and be completely independent. Ma Anand Sheela and several other Rajneesh sannyasins recount their experiences of moving to the ranch and the hostility from the residents of Antelope. The group immediately falls on the radar of the FBI.
The small community of locals living in Antelope is curious about their new neighbor, Osho who comes into town in a Rolls Royce and his followers, which number in the thousands. Sheela, who met Osho when she was 16 years old, becomes the administrator managing the group's millions of dollars. They buy 80,000 acres in Antelope, Oregon (a very small town of about 50 people) and begin bringing in mobile homes and building materials to build their agricultural commune. A westerner shares with them the Constitution of the United States and the group decides the United States is the best place for them to practice their way of life. Westerners begin moving to India to join the movement so the group decides they want to build a commune but find political resistance in India. Osho speaks about capitalism, spirituality and sexuality and his followers practice a dynamic form of meditation. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) is filling stadiums with 20-30K people.
"'Searching for Sheela' is a documentary that tries to get a closer look at one of the most sensationalised personalities in India and I am grateful to Netflix for providing us with a platform and a safe space to share her story," Batra added. "We trace her journey as she grapples with society's expectations of an ex-convict and attempts to re-brand the public opinion of herself. 'Searching for Sheela' is produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, the digital content arm of filmmaker Karan Johar's Dharma Productions.įilm-maker Shakun Batra, who serves as the executive producer on 'Searching for Sheela', said the documentary is not an "investigative piece" but a deep-dive into understanding Sheela, a woman living on her own terms with a "questionable past." I am looking forward to sharing my story with the world," she said. It captures the rollercoaster of emotions I experienced on this journey very well. "This film is about my journey of returning to my home in India, a journey I have longed for many years. Sheela Birnstiel said the docu-film will give the audience a glimpse of her "real self" and the evolution of her life over the last four decades. Billed as a docu-film, 'Searching for Sheela' aims to explore her journey through India after 34 years and sheds light on her new life post serving time for her alleged crimes.
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