Chitra Iyer

Some Lesser Known Facts About Chitra Iyer

• Chitra Iyer grew up in Karunagappally, Kerala.

• She completed her formal education in Kerala.

• In the initial phase of her singing career, Chitra tried to connect with composer A. R. Rahman but faced challenges because she was not located in Chennai.

  

• Chitra Iyer married former Indian Air Force pilot Vinod Sivaraman on 12 July 1989. They met earlier that year at the Chennai Gymkhana Club through an introduction arranged by their parents.

• In 2000, A. R. Rahman personally reached out to Chitra and asked her to visit Chennai with a demo recording of her work.

• During that visit, Rahman listened to her songs and immediately selected her to record ‘Athini Sithini’ for the Tamil film Thenali (2000). The recording was completed that very evening.

• Following this breakthrough, Chitra went on to record several Tamil and Malayalam tracks and became a regular collaborator with Rahman on his early 2000s Tamil film projects.

• After her marriage, she began working under the name ‘Chitra Sivaraman’ and continued her playback career with well-known Tamil composers such as Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Bharadwaj, and Vidyasagar.

• Chitra has lent her voice to various songs for Tamil films like ‘Star’ (2001), ‘Thulluvadho Ilamai’ (2002), ‘Boys’ (2003), and ‘Kangalal Kaidhu Sei’ (2004).

  

• Chitra Iyer has also sung for films in other Indian languages besides Tamil, including ‘Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu’ (2001) (Kannada), ‘Dum Dum Dum’ (2001) (Telugu), ’16 December’ (2002) (Hindi), and ‘Chronic Bachelor’ (2003) (Malayalam).

  

• Alongside playback singing, she pursued an alternate career in the Malayalam entertainment industry as a television anchor.

• She once hosted Jeeva’s Sapta Swarangal, a reality show, under her maiden name Chitra Iyer.

• Chitra had a strong command of the Malayalam language, which helped her connect with audiences and led to further singing opportunities in Malayalam films.

• She also appeared in a few Malayalam-language films, such as Mohini Natyamandir in ‘Rathri Mazha’ (2007),  Rukku Bai IN ‘Makaramanju’ (2011), Swetha Gupta in ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (2022), and Prof. Renuka Varma in ‘Meri Awas Suno’ (2022).

  

• In 2013, Chitra appeared as a contestant on the reality show ‘Malayalee House,’ which aired on Surya TV. She got eliminated from the show in the sixth week.

• She appeared on many other television shows, including Surya TV’s ‘Voice of Kerala,’ Amrita TV’s ‘Super Star Global,’ and Flowers TV’s ‘Flowers Oru Kodi.’

• Chitra has also acted in a few Malayalam television series, such as Asianet’s Kumkumapoovu (2013) and Surya TV’s Gauri (2018 – 2019).

  

• Chitra believes in contributing to society and is actively involved in social and environmental causes. She serves as the founder and trustee of the Society for Elephant Welfare in Kerala.

• She has also supported many agricultural initiatives in collaboration with the state, including a farming project started by her mother, Rohini Iyer.

• In 2013, Chitra launched a software company named ‘Darkhorse Productions’ with her daughters, Aditi and Anjali Sivaraman.

• Chitra Iyer is an avid animal lover and has a few pets, including dogs and cats.