Searching for Sheela
Poster
Directed byShakun Batra
Produced byKaran Johar
Apoorva Mehta
Somen Mishra
Edited byNitesh Bhatia
Music byBenedict Taylor
Naren Chandavarkar
Production
companies
Dharmatic
Jouska Films
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • 22 April 2021 (2021-04-22)
Running time
58 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish

Searching for Sheela is a 2021 Indian documentary film created, directed[1] and executive produced by Shakun Batra.[2] The film traces the life of Ma Anand Sheela,[3] who was the spokesperson of the Rajneesh movement, when she returns to India for the first time in 35 years.[4] The film is produced by Karan Johar's Dharmatic Entertainment and was released on Netflix on 22 April 2021.[5]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of eight critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.80/10.[6]

Sayan Ghosh of The Hindu noted that the film "barely manages to scratch the surface, leaving bare a hollow exterior, despite concerted efforts to conceal it within a shiny facade."[7] Tatsam Mukherjee from Firstpost called the film a "crime against journalism" and "so tremendously low on insight and curiosity about someone as fascinating as Sheela that it seems like a criminal waste of an opportunity."[8] Saibal Chatterjee said that the film is "an extended, circuitous version of a Koffee With Karan episode that ferrets out nothing of import."[9]

Writing for Hindustan Times, Rohan Naahar opined that the documentary is a "Dharma-style, surface-level profile of Ma Anand Sheela" that "brushes aside everything that is interesting about her in favour of fluff."[10] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote: "Unfolding mostly as a very long out-take from Wild Wild Country, the puff piece seeks to project [Sheela] as an enigma and a survivor [..] but the film actually comes across as an attempt to follow an entertaining yarn all the way to its last, fraying thread."[11]

References

  1. ↑ Frater, Patrick (23 April 2021). "'Searching for Sheela' Doc, About 'Wild Wild Country's' Ma Anand Sheela, Finds Its Star Unflinching and Unapologetic". Variety.
  2. ↑ Farzeen, Sana (13 April 2021). "Searching for Sheela trailer: Netflix puts the focus on Ma Anand Sheela's controversial life, watch". The Indian Express. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "'Searching for Sheela' Summary & Analysis - A Misplaced Sense of Feminism | DMT". Digital Mafia Talkies. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Searching for Sheela trailer: Shakun Batra's Netflix film picks up where Wild Wild Country left off". Hindustan Times. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Searching For Sheela Trailer Talk: Netflix Docu Explores The Journey From Cult Member To Cult Figure". Film Companion. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Searching for Sheela (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Ghosh, Sayan (23 April 2021). "'Searching for Sheela' review: A problematic take on Ma Anand Sheela's complex legacy". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Mukherjee, Tatsam (23 April 2021). "Why Dharmatic's Netflix documentary Searching For Sheela is a crime against Journalism 101". Firstpost. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Chatterjee, Saibal (23 April 2021). "Searching For Sheela Review: A Hollow Window-Dressed Shell". NDTV. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Naahar, Rohan (22 April 2021). "Searching for Sheela movie review: Ma Anand Sheela gets Dharma treatment in Netflix's directorless documentary". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Ramnath, Nandini (22 April 2021). "'Searching For Sheela' review: A quest that goes nowhere (and probably never intended to)". Scroll.in. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
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