Nitu Chandra

Born in Patna, Bihar and currently residing in Los Angeles, USA, Nitu Chandra is an Indian actor, National award winning producer, international taekwondo player, humanitarian, activist & theatre artist. She is famously known for her work in ‘Garam Masala’, ‘Traffic Signal’, ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye!’ ‘Aadhi Bhagavan’ and ‘Godavari’ to name a few. Nitu Chandra has not only carved a distinctive space for herself in Indian films but is on her way to conquering the global domain with her multiple interesting Hollywood projects.In addition, she is also a skilled classical dancer and has a natural affinity for sports. She has been actively playing and promoting basketball in India through her close association with the NBA. In 2017, she became the brand ambassador for Patna Pirates, a winning teaming in the Pro Kabaddi League for the last 4 years. She has also represented India 3 times at World Taekwondo Championships. She has been honoured the 4th dan black belt by Korean Embassy, New Delhi.She made her Bollywood film debut with Garam Masala (2005) opposite Akshay Kumar & John Abraham where she essayed the role of an air hostess. She is known for her performances in several films which include ‘National Award’ winning Traffic Signal (2007) and ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), alongside One Two Three (2008), Summer 2007 (2008), 13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009), Mumbai Cutting (2008), Rann (2010) with Amitabh Bachchan, Apartment: Rent at Your Own Risk (2010), No Problem (2010), ‘Sadiyaan’ (2010), Kucch Luv Jaisaa (2011), ‘Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot’ (to be released) and ‘Shooter’ (to be released). With her incredible acting prowess, she has enacted every character with perfection.Nitu made her foray into theatre with a play called ‘Umrao’ (2013) essaying the iconic character ‘Umrao Jaan’ showing her versatility from portraying a 17 years old teenager to an 85 year old octogenarian. Her acting in the play was critically acclaimed and applauded by the audience.Known to wear many hats, she ventured into film production with Deswa (2011), a Bhojpuri film which entered 37 international film festivals and was honoured in many. This film is also credited to be the first film from Bihar to enter International Film Festival in Goa 2012 in ‘Indian panorama’ category.It was in 2008 that she set up her own production house, named, ‘Champaran Talkies’ with her brother Nitin Chandra, a National award winning filmmaker. The objective of this production house is to produce films that talk about real India. Champaran Talkies recently produced Mithila Makhaan (2019) a Maithili language movie that went on to be the first movie from Bihar to ever win the prestigious National Film Awards (2016) for ‘Best Maithili Film’. The film was also officially selected for the International Film Festival of South Asia in Toronto (2016) alongside more than 25 other international film festivals.She will mark her Hollywood debut with Sony Motion Pictures franchise, Never Back Down: Revolt (2021) where she will essay the role of a fierce fighter, ‘Jaya’. She is the first Indian actor to do a Greek film, called Block 12 (2013) and has been a part of Gown and Out in Beverly Hills (2017) on Amazon Prime. She has recently completed a pilot episode for an international web series ‘The Worst Day’.Besides Hindi films, she has given memorable performances, in other regional language movies too. She made a guest appearance with the Telugu film Vishnu (2003), followed by other prominent Telugu films which include Godavari (2006), Satyameva Jeyathe (2009) and Manam (2014). Her key Tamil films include ‘Yavrum Nalam’ (2009), Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai (2010), ‘Yuddham Sei’ (2011), Settai (2013), Thilagar (2015), Singam 3 (2017), Vaigai Express (2017), ‘Brahma.com’ (2017). She has even appeared in a Kannada movie, Power (2014).For the Tamil movie Aadhi Bhagavan (2013), she won the ‘Best Actor (2014) in the negative role (Tamil) at the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA). Having worked in various Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films, Neetu is considered to be one of the most versatile actor of Indian cinema.Nitu Chandra is a philanthropist and has received wide recognition for her humanitarian work. She has advocated various social causes. Aiding Cancer patients is a social cause which is particularly close to her heart. She has been the brand ambassador of Cancer Patients Aid Association, Mumbai for the last 12 years and Teen Cancer America for the last 3 years. She has also been associated with the United Nations as a Gender 50:50 Champion.Talented Nitu has gone to forge a multi-hyphenate career and has left an indelible mark in films and sports alike. She strongly believes that “the only way to succeed in anything would be to give it everything and remain consistent.”””