Kumud Merani
Kumud Merani is a Journalist / Broadcaster, Playwright and an actor. She is one of the most well-known women of Indian origin in Australia. A doyen of Indian electronic media in Australia, she was one of the pioneer news presenters of Indian public broadcaster - Doordarshan TV.
Having immigrated to Australia, Kumud had the rare distinction of being the first Asian lady to get the position of a News Presenter for the World News on SBS TV for a short period but has found her niche as the National Executive Producer of Hindi Program on SBS Radio.
She is known for her roles in Five Bedrooms, UNIndian and Grass Roots and has been the recipient of several National and International Awards for her Radio Documentaries and plays.
She is also one of the first ladies of Indian origin to be selected as Australia Day Ambassador.
Anupam Sharma
Anupam Sharma is a filmmaker, speaker and an author who was named as one of the fifty most powerful & influential Australian film professionals by Encore magazine. He is the founding head of films & casting TEMPLE, one of the most prolific and award-winning international production & consultancy firm based out of Fox-Studios – Sydney.
Over the last 22 years, Anupam has led a team of film professionals, line producing, co-producing, and executive producing international films, festivals, TV, and TVCs in Australia on over 290 projects.
He returned to directing with a short documentary commissioned by Australian National Maritime Museum. Since then Anupam has directed and produced one of the biggest ad campaigns for Destination NSW for the Asian market, directed the anti-piracy campaign for Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation and recently directed the launch TV ad for T20 2020 World Cup for International Cricket Council.
With feature films as his forte, Anupam directed multimillion-dollar indie Australian romantic comedy unINDIAN starring Australian cricketer Brett Lee. Anupam has also directed the feature-length award-winning documentary The Run (Best Documentary Newcastle Film Festival 2018) following the journey of ultra-marathoner runner and ex-member of Parliament, Pat Farmer.
Anupam is currently completing his feature documentary with Claire Waygood (producer) titled Bollywood Downunder. This tongue in cheek biographical look at the Indian and Aussie film industry is slated for release in mid-2020. He is also directing Honour a thriller based on real events in Victoria being produced by Jannine Barnes (Downriver). Both films were announced by NSW Premier at an AACTA Asia Function in Mumbai.
He has been appointed as an Australia Day Ambassador every year since 2013.
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi produces large-scale cultural and corporate events with one goal: to create a diverse and unified Australia.
Gandhi Creations has produced over 500 events, including conferences, fashion shows, round-tables and festivals for 50,000 people. Sonia also sits on the board of Multicultural New South Wales.
Gandhi Creations’ flagship initiative the India Australia Business & Community Awards (IABCA) raises awareness of Indians in Australia and Australians in India, in a way that further encourages growth in relations between the two nations. Since its inception in 2014, the IABCA initiative has produced several success stories.
Ms Gandhi has been appointed as an Australia Day Ambassador since 2018.
