| Nitu Chandra | |
| Birth Date: | 1984 6, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Occupation: | Actress, film producer, martial artist |
| Mother: | Neera Chandra |
| Father: | Umesh Chandra |
| Years Active: | 2003–present |
Nitu Chandra (born 20 June 1984) is an Indian actress, film producer and theatre artist.[1] She is also a classical dancer and a sportsperson, involved in the promotion of basketball in the country through her close association with the NBA and Taekwondo, being a fourth Dan black-belt.[2] She has her own production house named Champaran Talkies, winning the National Film Award for the film Mithila Makhaan in the category of Best Maithili Film.[3] The national award-winning film was directed by her brother Nitin Chandra.
Chandra's mother tongue is Bhojpuri.[4] She was educated at the Notre Dame Academy, Patna and completed her undergraduate education at Delhi's Indraprastha College.[5] She started modelling and Nitu gives credit of her success to her mother, a native of East Champaran in Bihar.[6] She has appeared in several advertisements and videos for firms since her graduation. She holds two Dan black belts in Taekwondo and represented India in the 1997 World Taekwondo Championships in Hong Kong.[7]
Chandra's brother is Nitin Chandra who directed the movie Deswa.[8]
Chandra debuted in the Hindi film industry in 2005 with Garam Masala in which she portrayed the role of Sweety, an air-hostess. She also acted in Godavari, a Telugu film, in 2006. In 2007 she appeared in Madhur Bhandarkar's film, Traffic Signal.
In 2008, she had four releases, being directed by Dibakar Banerjee, Rahul Dholakia, Ashwini Dheer and Vikram. Her Tamil film, Yavarum Nalam with Madhavan, released in 2009, was declared a major hit. In 2010 she was seen in four Hindi films, Rann, Apartment, No Problem, in which she made a special appearance, and Sadiyaan, and one Tamil film, Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai.
In 2011 Deswa, a Bhojpuri film which she produced and which was directed by her brother, was released.[9]
In 2013, she acted in the Tamil-language action film Ameerin Aadhi-Bhagavan alongside Jayam Ravi. She has completed filming for a Greek film Home Sweet Home,[10] in which she plays an Indian girl.[11] She had to learn Greek for the film and also dubbed herself.[12] She has two Hindi films, Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot and Shooter, coming up.[4]
In 2020, she appeared in the Hollywood show Gown and out in Beverly Hills with Bollywood actor Sammy John Heaney.
Chandra became the brand ambassador for the Hoop, a Gitanjali brand.[13] She also took part in a commercial for Mysore Sandal Soap. Nitu Chandra also appeared in music director Ismail Darbar's music video "Rasiya Saajan" along with Zubeen Garg.[14] She was also seen in the music video of Bombay Vikings' singer Neeraj Shridhar's hit single "Aa Raha Hoon Main".[15] She also appeared in a successful remix of Sajna Hai Mujhe from D.J. Hot Remix Vol.1 (and the song appeared in 7 other albums after that), and the super hit song Mera Babu Chhail Chhabila (CD - Sophie & Dr.Love, DVD - D. J. Hot Remix Vol.2 & The Return Of Kaanta Mix) alongside Sophie Choudry (the song appeared in 9 other albums after that).
In 2013, Chandra made her debut in theatre,[16] in a play, called Umrao, which featured her in the title role. The Times of India".[17] She has been hosting Rangoli on DD National since May 2017. In 2018, Chandra became Community Ambassador for Patna Pirates in pro kabbadi league.
In 2008, 7Seas Technologies launched a 3D mobile game, Nitu — The Alien Killer, with Nitu Chandra as the lead character.[18]
Nitu was featured on the cover of the January 2009 issue of Indian Maxim.[19]
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Vishnu | Teju | Telugu | Telugu debut film |
| 2005 | Garam Masala | Sweety | Hindi debut film | |
| 2006 | Godavari | Rajeswari 'Raji' | Telugu | |
| 2007 | Traffic Signal | Rani | Hindi | |
| 2008 | One Two Three | Inspector Mayawati Chautala | ||
| Summer 2007 | special appearance in song | |||
| Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! | Sonal | |||
| 2009 | Satyameva Jayate | Basara Papa | Telugu | |
| Yavarum Nalam | Priya Manohar | Bilingual film Tamil debut | ||
| 13B | Hindi | |||
| 2010 | Mumbai Cutting | |||
| Rann | Yasmin Hussain | |||
| Apartment | Neha Bhargav | |||
| No Problem | Sophia | |||
| Sadiyaan | special appearance in song | |||
| Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai | Tejaswini | Tamil | ||
| 2011 | Yuddham Sei | Cabaret Dancer | Special appearance in song "Kannitheevu Ponna" | |
| Kucch Luv Jaisaa | Ria | Hindi | ||
| Deswa | Bhojpuri | Special Appearance | ||
| 2013 | Aadhi Baghavan | Rani Sampatha / Karishma | Tamil | SIIMA Award for Best Actress in Negative role |
| Settai | Herself | Special appearance in song "Laila Laila" | ||
| 2014 | Manam | Air hostess | Telugu | Cameo appearance |
| Power | Kannada | Special appearance in song "Why Why (YY)" | ||
| 2015 | Thilagar | Village Dancer | Tamil | special appearance in song |
| 2016 | Block 12 | Indian Goddess | ||
| 2017 | Singam 3 | Bar Dancer | Tamil | Special Appearance in song "O Sone Sone" |
| Vaigai Express | Radhika/ Jyothika | Dual Role | ||
| Brahma.com | Nitu Chandra | |||
| 2021 | Jaya | English | Hollywood Debut[20] [21] | |
| Year | Film | Language | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Deswa | |||
| 2016 | Mithila Makhaan |