Dr. Mallika Sarabhai is a celebrated Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer, actor, writer, and activist, renowned for successfully bridging the worlds of performing arts and social justice. Educated in business with a Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour, she is the Co-Director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts and a pioneering force who uses creativity as a powerful medium for social change and activism.
Sarabhai's career trajectory is distinguished by its synthesis of deep familial influences—her father's emphasis on work ethic and her mother's passion for the arts and social change. After abandoning a corporate path and being disillusioned with cinema, she took on a managerial role at Darpana, later expanding its mission to launch Darpana for Development to tackle social issues through the performing arts. A major career highlight was her five-year tenure playing Draupadi in Peter Brook's international production of The Mahabharata, which helped her develop a unique "contemporary vocabulary" of dance.
A turning point in her work came after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, which inspired her to establish a center for non-violence at Darpana and to create and perform short pieces that challenge mainstream social and cultural norms. She is also an entrepreneur, running a TV production company that produces activist programming and Mapin, a publisher of art and design books.
As a highly awarded and appreciated speaker, Dr. Sarabhai combines her immense artistic experience with her talent as a communicator to deliver motivational talks and workshops. She is a vocal advocate of women’s rights and education, and her keynotes provide a fresh perspective on solving business and social problems by using creativity to shed fresh perspectives on finding solutions. She actively encourages political action, having recently campaigned for the Lok Sabha on a platform of social responsibility.
