Pallavi Sharda Biography • Indian Film & Theatre Actress and Dancer

Pallavi Sharda is an Indian-Australian film/theatre actress and dancer, trained in the classical Tamil dance form of Bharatha Natyam. She has critically acclaimed performances across genres and is known by her fans in India for her unique rhythmic dancing. Her film credits include Oscar-nominated film Lion (2016), Bollywood films Begum Jaan (2017) and Hawaizaada (2015) and comedy Australian film Save Your Legs! (2012). She joins the lead cast in the highly anticipated ABC drama Pulse (2017). Her very first role in the glamorous world of Bollywood was in the Karan Johar directed ‘My Name is Khan’, where she played a cameo alongside Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.

Early Life

Pallavi Sharda was born on March 5, 1990 in Perth, Australia and brought up in Melbourne into an academic family. She is the daughter of 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.

Having trained in the classical dance form of Bharatha Natyam since the age of three, movement is a large part of her performing arts repertoire, particularly her free form fusion dance style which she showcases in her live performances.

Her childhood dream of become an Indian film actress. After making an appearance in ‘My Name is Khan’, she spent time in the USA where she shot the Indo-American film ‘Walkaway’ in early 2009. Pallavi has appeared in “Besharam” Abhinav Kashyap’s film, alongside Ranbir Kapoor.

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) opposite acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee,

Pallavi’s first Australian television role was as a lead on ABC’s ‘Pulse‘ in 2017. She was awarded the ‘Rising Star’ award by the Casting Guild of Australia for her portrayal of a Nephrologist in a failing western Sydney hospital.