ABC’s latest drama series Pulse boasts of not just a riveting plot but a diverse cast as well. While Claire van der Boom (Sisters of War) takes on the role of protagonist, Andrea Demetriades (Janet King), Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Liam McIntyre (Spartacus: War of the Damned), Susie Porter (Puberty Blues), make up the rest of the cast.
Indian origin actors Arka Das, Pallavi Sharda and Dalip Sondhi also star in the medical drama which began production in March.
Inspired by a true story of a transplant patient who became a doctor, created by Kris Wyld, Michael Miller and Mel Hill, is set in and around the transplant unit of a busy western suburbs teaching hospital. When successful high-flier Frankie Bell (Claire van der Boom) is brought crashing to earth by chronic kidney failure she targets an alternate future. Eight years on she is in her second year as a practising doctor starting her first day in a renal rotation. Driven to use her second chance to save others, Frankie must confront an ailing health system, and face her toughest challenge—learning to let go.
Arka Das, who plays Dr Tabb Patel—an intern who doubts his abilities as a doctor—found his way into professional acting when he entered the regional Youth Shakespeare Festival in high school and in the following year won first place in the duologue category. Arka starred as Farid in the AACTA winning ABC series The Code and has since moved into working on feature films. Most notably he starred in the co-lead role in Australian feature film UnIndian—a selection at the Montreal World Film Festival and released in cinemas in Australia, India and the Middle East. He recently worked on See-Saw Films and Weinstein Co.’s feature Lion, alongside Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman.
Other credits include roles in Australian feature films, Down Under by Abe Forsythe. Arka will also appear in Season 2 of award-winning series Top of the Lake directed by Academy Award winner Jane Campion.
Pallavi Sharda—who plays an ambitious registrar—is an Australian Indian film and theatre actress and one of Bollywood’s leading ladies. She most recently appeared in the 2016 Oscar nominated film Lion opposite Dev Patel and Rooney Mara and stars in Indian director Srijit Mukherji’s feature Begum Jaan.
Her breakthrough role came in the 2013 Bollywood film Besharam, in which she starred opposite Ranbir Kapoor. She followed this with a performance in Vibhu Puri’s feature Hawaizaada. Her other Bollywood credits include Dus Tola, Love Breakups Zindagi and My Name Is Khan. Pallavi made her Australian film debut playing the female lead in Australian cricketing comedy Save Your Legs alongside Stephen Curry, Brendan Cowell and David Lyons. She also appeared in Anupam Sharma’s Australian feature unINDIAN, with cricketer Brett Lee.
Dalip Sondhi—who plays the head of medicine—is of Indian origin, but grew up in London. He began his working life as a UK Metropolitan Police Officer spending time with the Crime Squad during the turbulent 1980s. He then left the police to train as an actor and director. He has a Masters in Performance Studies from London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, a Post Grad in Theatre Education from the University of London, and a BA (Hons) Acting from Middlesex University and Montclair State College (New York).
Dalip recently worked alongside Timothy Spall in the Australian feature Sucker, played the lead in Absolution (Official selection Vancouver, Pasadena, Kansas) and in India, worked with Shraddha Kapoor in the upcoming Half Girlfriend and Vipin Sharma in the soon to be released Goan film Baarish. Dalip is also co-producing a feature film with one of Australia’s leading producers, Robyn Kershaw in collaboration with India’s acclaimed Nandita Das and Australia’s Dot West.
Produced by Clandestine Beyond, Pulse is produced by Kris Wyld and Antony I Ginnane with Beyond Entertainment’s David Ogilvy and Ron Saunders and the ABC’s Sally Riley and Kym Goldsworthy as executive producers. Written by Kris Wyld, Michael Miller, Kristen Dunphy and Mandy McCarthy, Pulse is being directed by Peter Andrikidis, Jennifer Leacey and Ana Kokkinos.
Producers Kris Wyld and Antony I Ginnane promise that with its “exciting and diverse world class cast” Pulse will “provoke and confront while tugging at heartstrings”.
Produced with major investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW, Pulse is a Clandestine Beyond production for ABC, with international sales being handled by ABC Commercial.
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