Pallavi Sharda

Early life

Pallavi was born in Perth, Australia to Dr. Hema Sharda (Director of South Asian Relations at the University of Western Australia), and Dr. Nalin Kant Sharda (Professor of Computer Science at Victoria University). Her parents are from Delhi, her father is Punjabi. Both her parents are IIT alumni and have PhDs in science and engineering. They migrated to Australia in the 1980s before she was born. Sharda came to Melbourne as a toddler where she grew up in the outer north-western suburbs. She went to school at Lowther Hall in Essendon where she obtained an academic scholarship 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. Sharda shifted base from Melbourne to Mumbai in 2010.

Career

Sharda shifted from Melbourne to Mumbai only to pursue her career in the performing arts. 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.

She next starred in the comedic-drama film, Dus Tola (2010), in which she played the role of Geeta, a village dance teacher. Pallavi's performance was identified as the best element of the film by The Times of India. Sharda's second release, an Indo-American film called Walkaway was released on 29 October 2010 across United States. Sharda's next Bollywood release, Love Breakups Zindagi released on 7 October 2011.

In 2011 and 2012 Sharda was the lead actress of the theatrical musical, Taj Express directed by Shruti Merchant and choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant.

Sharda made her Australian film debut with comedy film Save Your Legs, which released on 28 February 2013. She then appeared in Abhinav Kashyap's Bollywood film Besharam. in which she portrayed a woman whose car is stolen by a petty thief. Pallavi'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 portray of a courtesan dancer during the British Raj era in Mumbai.

Pallavi joined SONY ESPN's team as their new face for the IPL 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pallavi's latest Bollywood film Begum Jaan released in April 2017. Pallavi received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Gulabo, a sex worker in rural punjab, at the time of India's partition from Pakistan.

Pallavi is regarded as am ambassador for multicultural relations in Australia. In 2015 she was appointed the 'Queen of Moomba', Melbourne's largest community festival, alongside retired Australian cricketer Shane Warne.

Pallavi joined Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the Hollywood film Lion in 2016 and is currently playing a lead role in ABC Australia's new medical drama titled Pulse.

Advocacy

Pallavi 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. Pallavi is a regular keynote speaker on Asia Literacy in Australia, cross-cultural relations between India and Australia and women's empowerment in India.