Chaya Singh is an Indian film and television actress. She started her acting career in Kannada films and has worked in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali and Bhojpuri films. She has a reputation of being very selective in her roles.
Career
Her parents had migrated from Uttar Pradesh to Karnataka before her birth. She belongs to a Rajput family. Chaya grew up in Bangalore. She did her schooling at St Michel's English School, Byatarayanapura, Bangalore and studied for her Plus Two there. Her first film role was in Munnudi. She went to do more films in Kannada including Haseena which was directed by Girish Kasaravalli, Thuntata, which was a success, Dinesh Babu's Chitte and Sai Prakash's Rowdy Aliya. After having few chances in the Kannada industry she migrated to Tamil movies. Chaya Singh's most famous movie is Thiruda Thirudi in Tamil which has the popular song "Manmadha Raasa". She also acted in its Kannada remake Sakha Sakhi, which unlike the original was not successful. Chaya later acted in little known films Kavithai and Jaisurya and did item numbers in Arul and Thirupaachi, though she stated that she dislikes doing them. She returned to Tamil with Vallamai Tharayo and then starred in the supernatural thrillerAnandhapurathu Veedu. She has performed in Akasha Gange in Kannada which released in 2008. About her performance in the film, Rediff wrote, "The highlight of the film is Chaya Singh who has come out with an outstanding performance as a music teacher who comes to her lover's house to win over his family". Sify wrote, "This is Chaya Singh's yet another best performance. She speaks from her lovely eyes". She acted in the Kannada short filmSimply kailawesome. The film made on playwright T. P. Kailasam revolves around conversations between Kailasam and female protagonists from four of his plays. Chaya Singh played all the four characters: Paatu from Tollugatti, Eeke from Gandaskathri, Venkamma from Home Rule and Sule from the playSule. She has acted in two Malayalam films, too, Mullavalliyum Thenmavum and Police, both directed by V. K. Prakash. In 2008 she was acting in two Bhojpuri films. Her first Bhojpuri release was Mahamaayi. She has directed a Bengali film, too. She has done supporting roles in Kannada TV shows such as E-TV's Sarojini and Prema Kathegalu. She has acted in Tamil serial Nagamma, airing on Sun TV. She was a judge in the showKuniyonu Bara on a Kannada television channel. Since 2012, she acts in Telugu serial "Kanchna Ganga", airing on Maa TV. She has been doing a few Tamil films in the last few years.
