Arka Das

Arka Das is an Australian actor, director and screenwriter.

Early life Das born in Bangladesh and emigrated to Australia with his family as a child. He grew up in Ashfield, one of the inner-west suburbs of Sydney, where he attended school and university. His father was a writer, which meant he was introduced to the arts from a young age, partaking in community and school programs.

Career Das has played roles in numerous television series, including Shantaram, Pulse, Bite Club, Top of the Lake: China Girl, Safe Home and Bali 2002 He has also appeared in films UnIndian (2015), the multi-Academy Award-nominated film Lion (2016), the live-action remake of Mulan (2020), and The Portable Door (2023).

His stage credits include Beached at Sydney's Griffin Theatre and Animals Out of Paper at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre, for which he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2010 Sydney Theatre Awards.

Das is also a writer & director, having made short films, web series and documentaries. In 2014, he co-created comedy web series The Casuals, which was streamed in the US. His short documentary film Phoenix was a finalist at Focus on Abilities Film Festival in 2016. He then wrote and directed short film Khana Khazana, which screened at several film festivals in Australia and overseas, and won several awards at Made in the West Film Festival 2020. It is being developed into a full-length feature film.

For his performance in 2021 anthology film Here Out West, Das was nominated for the 2023 Logie Award Most Outstanding Supporting Actor. One of eight writers, he wrote and starred in the Brotherhood segment of the film and featured in the next chapter, The Eternal Dance. He also received a nomination for the 2021 AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) Awards in the Original Feature Film category for the same project.

Off the back of the film, Das went on to host ABC's television series 8 Nights Out West in 2022, where he explored different cuisines across Sydney, based on the cultural backgrounds of each of the Here Out West writers.

Filmography

Television

Film

Stage YearTitleRoleNotes 2023 The Seagull Simon Roslyn Packer Theatre with STC 2013 Beached The Producer Stables Theatre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company 2011 Casanova Rocco Ensemble Theatre, Sydney 2011 Deep Suburbia Various roles STC / BYDS 2010 Animals Out of Paper Suresh Ensemble Theatre, Sydney (nominated for Best Newcomer at Sydney Theatre Awards) 2010 References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot Martin Griffin Theatre Company Fitting into Wageni Byron Apocalypse Theatre Company The Club Gerry Ashfield Youth Theatre