Nitu Chandra

Nitu Chandra (born 20 June 1984) is an Indian actress, film producer and theatre artist. 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. 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. The national award-winning film was directed by her brother Nitin Chandra.

Early life and education
Chandra's mother tongue is Bhojpuri. She was educated at the Notre Dame Academy, Patna and completed her undergraduate education at Delhi's Indraprastha College. She started modelling and Nitu gives credit of her success to her mother, a native of East Champaran in Bihar. 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.

Chandra's brother is Nitin Chandra who directed the movie Deswa.

Acting career
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.

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, in which she plays an Indian girl. She had to learn Greek for the film and also dubbed herself. She has two Hindi films, Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot and Shooter, coming up.

In 2020, she appeared in the Hollywood show Gown and out in Beverly Hills with Bollywood actor Sammy John Heaney.

Other work
Chandra became the brand ambassador for the Hoop, a Gitanjali brand. 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. She was also seen in the music video of Bombay Vikings' singer Neeraj Shridhar's hit single "Aa Raha Hoon Main". 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, in a play, called Umrao, which featured her in the title role. The Times of India". 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 the media
In 2008, 7Seas Technologies launched a 3D mobile game, Nitu — The Alien Killer, with Nitu Chandra as the lead character.

Nitu was featured on the cover of the January 2009 issue of Indian Maxim.