Chitra Iyer (also credited as Chitra Sivaraman) is an Indian

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

who has worked in Indian and Italian films across five different industries primarily in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. A resident of

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, Chitra worked extensively with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

during the early 2000s on his Tamil films, while also having an alternate career as a television host and actress on Malayalam television.

Career

Early in her career, Chitra Iyer attempted to reach out to composer

to work with him, but found it difficult as she was based out of

. In 2000, Rahman initiated contact with Chitra and invited her to come to Chennai with a demo cassette of her work, with Chitra recording a series of Tamil and Malayalam songs. On the day of her visit to Chennai, Rahman immediately heard the songs and hired her to record for the song "Athini Sithini" for the film ''

Thenali ''Thenali'' is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language comedy film co-written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jayaram, Devayani and Jyothika, with Delhi Ganesh, Charle, Ramesh Khanna and Madhan Bob in supporting roles. It ...

'' (2000) during the same evening. She subsequently continued to work for other composers in Tamil cinema including

Karthik Raja Karthik Raja is an India composer based in Chennai, India. He made his debut as film composer in the Tamil film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films. Personal life Karthik ...

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

Bharathwaj Ramani Bharathwaj known professionally as Bharadwaj is an Indian music director, composer, singer-songwriter, and music producer, predominantly known for his work in Tamil cinema. He is trained in Hindustani, Western and Carnatic music and is a ...

and Vidyasagar under her post-marriage name of Chitra Sivaraman. Furthermore, apart from in her mother tongue of Tamil, Chitra continued to sing playback for Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. In the Malayalam entertainment industry, she had an alternate career as an anchor of a Malayalam singing show, ''Jeeva's Sapta Swarangal'' and hosted it under her maiden name, Chitra Iyer. Having done her education in Kerala, she had a good foundation in the Malayalam language, with her work on the show leading to further opportunities to sing for films.

Personal life

Chitra Iyer is married to former Air Force pilot Vinod Sivaraman since 12 July 1989. The pair met at the insistence of their parents at Chennai Gymkhana Club in early 1989, and have since had two daughters Aditi and Anjali. In recent years, alongside her television commitments, Chitra has worked as the founder and trustee of the Society for Elephant Welfare in Kerala. She has also promoted farming with the state, supporting a project launched by her mother Rohini Iyer. Likewise, she launched a software company, Darkhorse Productions, in 2013 alongside her daughters Aditi and Anjali Sivaraman.

Notable discography

;Tamil ;Malayalam

Television

*Sapthaswarangal (Asianet) as Host * Idea Star singer 2006 (Asianet) as Judge *Voice of Kerala (Surya TV) as Judge *Sangeetha Mahayudham (Surya TV) as Team Captain * Malayalee House (Surya TV) as Contestant *Super Star Global (Amrita TV) as Judge *Flowers Oru Kodi (Flowers TV) as Contestant ; Other TV Shows as guest * JB Junction *

Onnum Onnum Moonu ''Onnum Onnum Moonu'' is an Indian celebrity talk show hosted by singer ''Rimy Tomy'' on Mazhavil Manorama. The first season of the show began airing on 7 the April 2013 and has completed four seasons. ''Onnum Onnum Moonu'' is all based on a ...

* Symphony * Ente Daivam * Tharapakittu * Annonyam * Tarang * Thara Dambathimarude Samsthana Sammelanam She has also performed in a few

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Television shows as Performer ;TV serials -

Filmography

*2005 - Athira X C (Malayalam) - telefilm *2007 -

Rathri Mazha ''Rathri Mazha'' is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language film by Lenin Rajendran starring Vineeth and Meera Jasmine in lead roles. Rathri Mazha was chosen as one of the Indian entries for the Asian, African and Latin American Competition segment of ...

(Malayalam) as Mohini Natyamandir *2009 -

Makante Achan ''Makante Achan'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by V. M. Vinu, written by Samjad Narayanan, and produced by Seven Arts International. It stars Sreenivasan, Vineeth Sreenivasan, and Suhasini in lead roles, w ...

(Malayalam) as Herself *2010 -

Kaaryasthan ''Kaaryasthan'' () is a 2010 Malayalam-language family drama film written by the duo Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas and directed by debutant Thomson K. Thomas. It stars Dileep, Akhila, Siddique, Madhu and Suraj Venjaramoodu. It was Dileep's ...

(Malayalam) as Herself *2011 -

Makaramanju ''Makaramanju'' ( en, The Mist of Capricorn, italic=yes) is a 2011 Malayalam language romantic drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran. The film is about celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma's life at a certain stage in his life. It als ...

(Malayalam) as Rukku Bai *2012 -

Casanovva ''Casanovva'' (also known as ''Confident Casanovva'') is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language romantic action thriller film directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by Bobby & Sanjay. It was produced by Roy C. J. of Confident Group in association ...

(Malayalam) as Salsa Teacher *2012 - Unnam (Malayalam) as Padma *2012 - Arike (Malayalam) as Kalpan's chitta *2018 -

B.Tech A Bachelor of Technology (Latin ''Baccalaureus Technologiae'', commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech. (Hons.)) is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after the completion of a three to five-year program of stud ...

(Malayalam) as Priya's mother *2021 - Mohan Kumar Fans as Herself *2022 -

Jana Gana Mana "" (Sanskrit: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as '' Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata'' in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. The first stanza of the song ''Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata' ...

as Swetha Gupta *2022 - Meri Awas Suno as Prof. Renuka Varma

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iyer, Chitra Living people Indian women playback singers Tamil playback singers Kannada playback singers Telugu playback singers Singers from Chennai Tamil singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Malayalam cinema