Pallavi Sharda is an Australian actress, cultural entrepreneur and public voice whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, diplomacy and social change. What makes her singular in any room is not just what she speaks on — it is where she speaks from.
Trained as a classical Bharatha Natyam dancer, qualified in law, and forged across five screen markets — Bollywood, Hollywood, British television, Australian screen and French cinema — Pallavi brings a perspective built from genuine lived experience at the intersection of cultures, industries and identities. Through the lens of cultural intelligence, she threads together the particular and the universal, moving between the personal and the geopolitical with the ease of someone who has spent a lifetime navigating both. She does not argue for cultural diplomacy as a position. She is its proof of concept.
She is as comfortable in a government summit as she is in a community hall — and the people in both rooms tend to leave having heard something they didn’t expect. She has delivered keynotes and addressed forums including the Australia–India Leadership Dialogue, AsiaLink, Google, Herbert Smith Freehills, ACMI, VIVID Sydney, MIPCOM, HRAFF and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
To every engagement — whether a boardroom, a festival stage, a government forum or a community hall — Pallavi brings the same quality: deep human empathy, an unwavering sense of justice, and the ability to make complex ideas felt as well as understood.
She is a board member of Screen Australia — the youngest ever appointee and the first of Indian origin — founder of Bodhini Studios, and a cultural strategy consultant and advisor to organisations navigating the Australia–India corridor. She is a Distinguished Alumni of the University of Melbourne, an Advanced Global Australian Award recipient for Arts, and has been recognised as one of Australia’s Most Influential Asian Australians.
Board: Screen Australia — youngest ever appointee and first of Indian origin
Screen Career: Five markets: Bollywood, Hollywood, British television, Australian screen, French cinema
Broadcasting: Host, Sony ESPN IPL Coverage
Academia: LLB / BA (Hons) Media & Communications, Diploma in Modern Languages — University of Melbourne, Distinguished Alumni
Consulting: Cultural strategy consultant & advisor across the Australia–India commercial corridor
Recognition: Advanced Global Australian Award for Arts · Australia’s Most Influential Asian Australians
Founded: Bodhini Studios — dedicated to South Asian–Australian storytelling
She faked a student exchange to get to Bollywood at 18.
Lasting impact
We build with clarity, act with integrity, and always stay curious.
What Pallavi speaks on
01 — The Australia–India Relationship & Cultural Diplomacy
Drawing on her experience as a transnational artist and cultural strategist, Pallavi examines the role of culture as soft power in the bilateral relationship — and what investment in cultural diplomacy means for trade, policy and strategic cooperation.
02 — Screen Industry Diversity & Authentic Representation
As a board member of Screen Australia and the first actor of Indian origin to headline across Australian film and television, Pallavi speaks to the structural and creative case for diversity in the screen industry.
03 — Intercultural Narrative and Identity
How storytelling shapes identity, shifts perception and builds bridges between cultures — with particular relevance for organisations operating across cultural boundaries.
04 — Asia Literacy in Business & Public Life
The practical demands of Asia literacy for Australian leaders, and the role of cultural fluency in navigating the region’s most significant relationships.
05 — Women’s Empowerment, Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship
Women’s leadership, empowerment and navigating professional life as a woman of colour across industries and cultures. Uplifting the lives of women in rural India through social entrepreneurship.
KEYNOTES & ADDRESSES
Australia–India Leadership Dialogue — On Culture & Geopolitics
Pallavi was invited to speak at the Australia India Leadership Dialogue, a high-level forum comprising thought leaders and key stakeholders in the bilateral relationship. She addressed the power of culture and technology as connective tissue between the two nations — drawing on her experience as a transnational artist to highlight cultural diplomacy as soft power, and the need for investment in this area to support the broader policy and strategic cooperation aims set out in the ECTA trade agreement and the DFAT India Economic Strategy to 2035.
Link: Read the full address on the Bodhini Studios Journal → [add once live]
Google — Intercultural Expertise in Corporate Structures
A C-suite keynote delivered to Google’s leadership team in Los Angeles on the delivery of intercultural expertise within corporate structures — drawing on Pallavi’s experience navigating five screen markets and her ongoing work advising organisations across the Australia–India corridor.
AsiaLink — Asia Literacy for Australian Leaders
Pallavi addressed AsiaLink’s audience on the practical demands of Asia literacy — exploring what genuine cultural fluency means for Australian business leaders and institutions, and the role that storytelling plays in building the foundations for meaningful exchange.
PANELS & PUBLIC CONVERSATION
ABC Q&A — India–Australia Bilateral Issues
Pallavi appeared as a panelist on the ABC’s Q&A, addressing the India–Australia bilateral relationship before a national audience — speaking to the role of culture, community and people-to-people links in strengthening the relationship between the two nations..
ACMI — Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion
Featured speaker at ACMI’s Goddess exhibition, contributing to a programme exploring the intersection of mythology, representation and contemporary cultural identity — and the enduring power of storytelling in shaping how women are seen on screen and in culture.
Pull quote — styled block directly below ACMI entry
“Behind the lens, the human forms of Indian cinema’s feminine archetypes were far from their puritanical, unscathed projections. They were war-ravaged battle beasts.”
— The Bombay Veil, published by ACMI
Link: Read the full essay → [https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/the-bombay-veil/]
Herbert Smith Freehills — Women in Capital Finance in Asia
Pallavi was invited alongside a panel of leading entrepreneurs in Asian markets to speak on the experience of women navigating capital finance in Asia — examining structural barriers, the power of representation, and the intersection of gender, culture and professional identity, while emphasising the superpower of feminine thinking in the case for investment and raising capital.
Take Her Lead Foundation — Women, Sport & Cultural Representation
Pallavi was invited to speak on a panel at the Take Her Lead Foundation fundraiser, founded by former international cricketer and broadcaster Isa Guha to empower women and girls through sport. Appearing alongside recently retired Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, Pallavi brought together the threads of storytelling, sport and South Asian representation in Australian public life — drawing on her work developing the Lisa Sthalekar biopic at Bodhini Studios, which tells the story of an Indian-heritage woman who became one of Australia’s greatest cricketers.
MIPCOM — The Value of On-Screen Characters
Representing the ABC, and speaking as a practitioner at the world’s leading television market, Pallavi distilled the cultural and audience impact of her on-screen characters — addressing how representation in global screen content shapes identity, reaches diaspora communities and builds bridges between markets.
VIVID Sydney — Culture, Ideas & Innovation
Pallavi participated in VIVID Sydney’s Ideas program, speaking at one of Australia’s most prominent public festivals of ideas at the intersection of creativity, culture and innovation.
E-Kutir — Social Enterprise & Community Leadership
Pallavi has spoken in the context of her advisory board work with E-Kutir on the intersection of social enterprise, community empowerment and women’s leadership in rural India.
MODERATOR & HOST
Sony ESPN — IPL Coverage
Pallavi has served as a host for Sony ESPN’s coverage of the Indian Premier League — one of the world’s most watched sporting competitions — bringing her cultural fluency and on-screen authority to the intersection of sport, entertainment and the India–Australia relationship.
ASRC — Q&A with Senator Nick McKim, Behrouz Boochani
Pallavi hosted a public Q&A with Greens Senator Nick McKim following a screening of the story of Behrouz Boochani. The conversation addressed Australia’s asylum seeker policy, the power of storytelling as advocacy, and the human cost of systemic injustice.
Community Forum — In Conversation with Premier Jacinta Allen
Pallavi interviewed Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen on community, integration and the role of government in supporting multicultural life — a wide-ranging conversation on belonging, policy and what it means to build an inclusive Victoria.
Logo / tag row
Framing line: For keynotes, panels and cultural diplomacy engagements, Pallavi has addressed:
Tags: Australia–India Leadership Dialogue · Google · AsiaLink · ABC Q&A · Herbert Smith Freehills · ACMI · VIVID Sydney · MIPCOM · HRAFF · OzFest · MIFF · ASRC · E-Kutir · Take Her Lead Foundation · Sony ESPN