KUALA LUMPUR: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra is set to play an infamous person in history.
The 37-year-old wife of American singer-actor Nick Jonas will take the lead role in her upcoming film Sheela for Amazon Studios, playing real-life convicted bio-terrorist Ma Anand Sheela.
Asia One reported yesterday that the film would focus on the true story of Sheela, the one-time personal secretary of controversial Indian spiritualist Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
She carried out the largest biological terrorist attack in the US when she conspired to poison restaurants in Wasco County, Oregon, with salmonella in 1984 in an effort to fix a local election.
She was also allegedly involved in immigration fraud, arson, espionage, and wiretapping.
The film will be directed by Barry Levinson. Priyanka, Jason Sosnoff and David Permut are the co-producers, while the script is written by Nick Yarborough.
Meanwhile, Priyanka is in advanced talks to join the cast of The Matrix reboot.
She is set to play a role in the fourth instalment of the sci-fi franchise but details about her prospective character have been kept under wraps.
The Matrix 4 marks a revival for the popular sci-fi film series and is set to be released in 2021.
The original movie was released in 1999 with two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions both in 2003.
Priyanka will join franchise newcomers Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick and Jonathan Groff in the project, with production set to begin imminently in California.
Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are set to reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity respectively while Lana Wachowski is returning to direct the film.
However, Hugo Weaving, who played the role of Agent Smith in the first three films, recently confirmed that he will not be acting in it.