Pallavi Sharda
Born1987 or 1988 (age 35–36)[1]
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationActress
Years active2010–present
Parent(s)Hema Sharda
Nalin Sharda

Pallavi Sharda is an Australian actress and Bharathanatyam dancer of Indian descent.[2] She is best known for her role in the Academy Award nominated film Lion (2016). She has also starred in Hindi language films Besharam (2013), Hawaizaada (2015) and Begum Jaan (2017). She starred in the Australian film Save Your Legs! (2012) and the Australian teleseries Les Norton (2019). Since 2021, Sharda has starred in Tom & Jerry and the rom-com Wedding Season. In 2023, she was appointed to the Screen Australia board.[3]

Early life

Sharda was born in an Indian family in Perth, Western Australia[1] to Hema Sharda, and Nalin Kant Sharda.[4][5] Both her parents are IIT alumni from Bombay and Delhi respectively and have PhDs in science and engineering.[6] They migrated to Australia in the 1980s before she was born.[7] Sharda came to Melbourne as a toddler where she grew up in the outer north-western suburbs.[8] She went to school at Lowther Hall in Essendon where she obtained an academic scholarship[8] and commenced her LLB and BA (Media & Communications) & Diploma in Modern Languages (French) at the University of Melbourne, at the age of 16 and graduated with honours.[citation needed] Sharda shifted base from Melbourne to Mumbai in 2013.[9]

Career

Sharda started her Bollywood career by playing a cameo in Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan (2010). In March 2010 Sharda was crowned Miss India Australia in Sydney.[10][11][12][13] She next starred in the comedic-drama film, Dus Tola (2010) opposite acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee, in which she played the role of Geeta, a village dance teacher. Sharda's performance was identified as the best element of the film by The Times of India.[14] In 2011 and 2012 Sharda was the lead actress of the theatrical musical, Taj Express directed by Shruti Merchant and choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant.[15]

Sharda made her Australian film debut with comedy film Save Your Legs, which released on 28 February 2013.[16] She then appeared in Abhinav Kashyap's Bollywood film Besharam.[17] in which she portrayed a woman whose car is stolen by a petty thief. Sharda's next Bollywood venture, Hawaizaada, was released worldwide on 30 January 2015. Directed by Vibhu Puri and co-starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Mithun Chakraborty, the film is inspired by the true events of Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, who is believed to have flown an unmanned aircraft in 1895 Bombay. Sharda received critical acclaim for her portrayal of a courtesan dancer during the British Raj era in Mumbai.[18]

Sharda joined Sony ESPN's team as their new face for the IPL 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL).[19]

Sharda joined Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the Hollywood film Lion in 2016.[citation needed] Her next Bollywood film, Begum Jaan, released in April 2017.[20] Sharda received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Gulabo, a sex worker in rural Punjab, at the time of Pakistan's partition from India.[21]

Sharda played a leading role in ABC Australia's medical drama Pulse, her performance awarded her the "Rising Star" award by the Casting Guild of Australia.[22] she played Georgie in the ABC-TV series Les Norton. Pallavi is currently starring in Beecham House, ITV's historical drama series directed by Gurinder Chadha[23][24] and the ABC-TV comedy Retrograde.

Sharda is working on her first book, currently untitled, that explores her identity struggles as an Indian girl living in Australia. The book is set to be released next year.[11]

Advocacy

Sharda is on the board of advisers for e-Kutir, a social entrepreneurship company focused on improving the lives of Indians using the 'base of pyramid' model. Her focus areas are Sanitation and Mother and Child.[25] Sharda is a regular keynote speaker on Asia Literacy in Australia, cross-cultural relations between India and Australia and women's empowerment in India.[26] In 2015 she was appointed the "Queen of Moomba", Melbourne's largest community festival, alongside retired Australian cricketer Shane Warne.[27]

Considered a distinguished alumna of the University of Melbourne, Pallavi has emerged as a multi-faceted leader in the conversation around Australian Arts and Culture. Pallavi has curated festivals like Melbourne’s White Night, been the Queen of Moomba with Spin King Shane Warne and in 2019 Pallavi was named on the list of forty most influential Asian Australians at the inaugural Asian-Australian Leadership Summit.[28]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2010 My Name Is Khan Sajida Siddiqi
Dus Tola Geeta
Walkaway Sia
2011 The Saviour Pia Short film
Love Breakups Zindagi Radhika
2012 Save Your Legs! Anjali
Heroine Gayatri
2013 Besharam Tara Sharma
2015 Hawaizaada Sitara
UnIndian Shanthi
2016 Lion Prama
2017 Begum Jaan Gulabo
2018 Hotel Mumbai News Voiceover Voice role
Murder Dr. Parvati Agrawal TV film
2021 Tom & Jerry: The Movie Preeta Mehta
2022 Wedding Season Asha

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo Episode: "Uniform Special"
2017 Pulse Tanya Kalchuri Series regular, 8 episodes
2019 Strike Back Samira Shah Episode: "Revolution: Part 3"
Beecham House Chandrika Series regular, 6 episodes
Les Norton Georgie Burman Mini-series
2020 Retrograde Maddie Series regular, 6 episodes
2021 The One Megan Chapman Series regular, 7 episodes
2022 The Twelve Corrie D'Souza Mini-series

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2021 Equity Ensemble Awards Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (with Maria Angelico, Nicholas Boshier, Max Brown, Esther Hannaford & Ilai Swindells) Retrograde Won

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "I always regretted not being born in India: Pallavi Sharda". The Times of India. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  2. ^ Banerjee, Debesh (19 October 2010). "Building on Bollywood". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "'There are no ceilings now': Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda takes key Screen Australia role". SBS Language. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  4. ^ "UWA Staff Profile : The University of Western Australia : The University of Western Australia". Uwa.edu.au. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  5. ^ Nalin Kant Sharda. "Dr.Nalin Kant Sharda". Nalinsharda.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. ^ "I always regretted not being born in India: Pallavi Sharda". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Pallavi Sharda – Ranbir's new leading lady". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b "PROFILE: Pallavi Sharda living Bollywood dream". Brimbank Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  9. ^ [1] Archived 17 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Pallavi Sharda, Miss India Australia 2010, Photo Gallery – Official Miss India Australia Site – Est. 2001". 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  11. ^ a b Pallavi Sharda Interview | On Making It in Bollywood, Besharam, and Her Big Hollywood Plans Ep. 44, archived from the original on 6 January 2022, retrieved 2 April 2021
  12. ^ "I always wanted to dance in Bollywood". Hindustan Times. 22 October 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Who is Pallavi Sharda?". The Indian Express. 1 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Dus Tola Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  15. ^ "Aboard the Taj Express". The Indian Express. 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Pallavi Sharda spreads her wings back home". Herald Sun. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  17. ^ Thakkar, Mehul (16 August 2013). "Ranbir Kapoor juggling between the Kashyap brothers". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  18. ^ "'Hawaizaada': A dreamlike masterpiece about a dreamer". The Economic Times. 4 February 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  19. ^ "IPL 2016: Rochelle Rao and Pallavi Sharda to anchor 'Extraaa Innings T20". Sportskeeda.com. 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Srijit shares picture of his Begum Jaan brigade". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  21. ^ "Begum Jaan movie review LIVE: All bow down to Vidya Balan, the begum who means business". Firstpost.com. 13 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Home". If.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Pallavi Sharda plays a princess in Gurinder Chadha's period drama". The Times of India. 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Pallavi Sharda happy to work with Gurinder Chadha". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  25. ^ "Bollywood dreams". The Telegraph (India). Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  26. ^ "Law graduate turned Bollywood Actress Pallavi Sharda addresses AALA Diwali Dinner". Indusage.com.au. 29 November 2014. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  27. ^ Schetzer, Alana (11 February 2015). "Cricketer Shane Warne and Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda named king and queen of Moomba". The Age. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  28. ^ "40 Under 40 Awards Winners". Asian Australian Leaders. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.

External links

Categories