(December 12, 2025) At 15, Preity Upala walked into a Sydney studio believing she was redeeming a simple lucky-dip photo shoot prize, unaware that the moment would alter the course of her life. 22 years later, she stands as one of the recognisable voices on global stages. The half-Indian, half-Portuguese Hollywood-based media personality is also a geopolitical commentator, former Miss India International, and the founder of The Omnia Institute. That early encounter with a camera became the spark, with the photographer encouraging her to consider modelling professionally. She followed that advice, and the career that began by chance has unfolded across continents, industries, and disciplines.
Today her work spans Hollywood film sets, think-tank roundtables, diplomatic forums, and cultural institutions. Yet what stands out most is her centeredness, her ability to navigate complexity without losing her grounding in identity, heritage, and dharma. “There are so many karmic moments in my life that really altered the shape of my journey. Several intuitive moments with strangers really inspired me to follow my dharma,” the certified Dharma Ambassador remarks, connecting with Global Indian.
A global citizen
Having lived in the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the United States, Preity’s global voice is honed by geography and early values. “It was my parents’ spirituality and humanity that had the greatest effect on my life,” she says. Her childhood was filled with Ramayana and Mahabharata recitations, rituals, and the discipline of yoga and sadhana. Born in Dubai to parents of Indian and Portuguese heritage, and later raised in France and Australia, she learned early that identity is both fluid and anchored. This understanding defined her multidimensional professional life. For someone who began university at 16, earned a gold medal at the University of Wollongong in Australia, and entered investment banking straight after, her early career moves seemed destined for the corporate world. But the universe, as she describes it, had other plans.
A global shift
During a period of travel, a series of strangers, from a clairvoyant in New Zealand to intuitive guides in Thailand, Cambodia, Bali, and Vietnam told the then Australia resident that her life was about to shift dramatically. Months later, back in Sydney, an unexpected opportunity to study in New York appeared, affirming the path strangers had foretold. “I never looked back,” she says, tracing the moment that redirected her life from finance to film, culture, and global strategy. Once in the U.S., she trained in acting on a scholarship, appeared in films including Singh is King, Baahubali: The Beginning, The Sky Has Fallen, and several European and Turkish productions. Her television appearances spanned American and British shows like Outsourced, The Vampire Diaries, Neighbours, and Home and Away. Alongside acting, she hosted the popular podcast The Preity Experience and emerged as a sought-after radio and TV commentator.
World of pageantry
Pageantry added another dimension. From Miss Earth Australia finalist (2009) to Miss India Portugal (2011) to Miss India International Asia Pacific (2012), she became the first woman of Indian–Portuguese heritage to reach the Miss Earth Australia finals. She was later named “Brown Girl of the Month” by Brown Girl Magazine (2014), adding yet another marker to her rising cultural profile.
Preity Upala (front row, far right) during Miss Earth Australia beauty pageant
Soft power in motion
Even as modelling and acting expanded her horizons, Preity felt drawn to larger questions of soft power, geopolitics, conflict resolution, and India’s place in the world. The more she travelled, the more she recognised how India lived in the imagination of people across continents. “Traveling around the world makes you realize you are this identity and you can’t ever shake it off,” she says.
In Morocco, she was struck by the country’s deep affection for India. “The Moroccan people are obsessed with India and Indian culture. We’re talking obsession levels,” she recalls, noting how Bollywood and Bharat’s cultural memory travel across borders. Moments like these accumulated as she moved through continents. In Russia, she remembers minus 30 degrees in Moscow when an 85-year-old elderly woman walked up to her with a radiant smile and said, “Namaste.” A bodyguard who spoke no English still managed to express kinship with a simple “Hindi-Russi, bhai bhai.” Experiences in these different nations reinforced her sense of being a cultural bridge, someone who could articulate Bharat’s past, present, and future in ways that resonated across cultures. These reflections marked her shift into cultural diplomacy, analysis, and thought leadership.
A worldview shaped by movement
Through her 100-country journey, Preity says she has come to see the world as a “small global village,” where culture and identity travel faster than borders. The more she moved, the more she realised how deeply India lived in people’s imagination, from temples in Thailand and Cambodia to unexpectedly authentic Indian cuisine in the Middle East. “You carry your civilization with you,” she reflects, noting how travel revealed not just how others see India, but how she herself grew into the role of representing it. These experiences strengthened her commitment to embodying what she calls the “highest ideals of Bharat,” shaping her evolution into a voice for a new era of Indian soft power.
Building a public voice
Preity’s work today reflects the fusion of cultural insight and strategic analysis. She is the director of The Omnia Institute, and a geopolitical commentator whose writing appears in Foreign Policy, The Observer, Times of Israel, The National Telegraph, and many other global publications. She has spoken at WEF, HORASIS, BRICS, and major think tanks, and serves on the European Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Young Presidents’ Organization, and multiple advisory boards in technology and corporate strategy.
A certified dharma ambassador, she lectures worldwide on civilization, consciousness, and Indian philosophy, linking spiritual frameworks to contemporary global challenges. Alongside writing and analysis, she launched the podcast The Eternal Hour with Preity and Kevin in 2016, exploring conversations on spirituality and global thought. Her love for cricket later inspired her to create The Fine Leg Podcast in 2021, where she interviewed cricket stars. A trained salsa dancer, she performed at the closing ceremony at one of the editions of the Shanghai International Film Festival.
Philanthropy remains central to Preity Upala’s journey. She founded the Üupala Foundation for children in Southeast Asia, worked as an ambassador for the South African charity called Beyond Water, and continues to use her media platforms to center Indian narratives globally. As a multilingual, she speaks more than five languages, including English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, and Telugu.
Message to next-generation diaspora members
For someone who has lived on four continents, visited over a hundred countries, and traversed industries from banking and cinema to diplomacy and journalism, the thread holding her journey together is identity. “I’m a walking ambassador for India,” she says, “and my only dharma should be to showcase Bharat in the best light.” Her message to young Indians, especially those in the diaspora, is to take pride in their heritage, as it is not ornamental but foundational. She believes the future belongs to Asia, and that India is at the center of that shift. To participate meaningfully, she says, the next generation must understand where they come from and express it with confidence. “Find out who you are and where you come from, and fully express it in the world with conviction,” she remarks.
Full circle
From a teenager winning a lucky-dip photo shoot to a global strategist shaping conversations on cultural diplomacy and consciousness, Preity Upala has stayed aligned with the values instilled in her as a child and the dharma she chose to follow as an adult. In her story, chance may have opened the first door, but intention, awareness, and cultural rootedness built the path that followed.
