Chitra was introduced to Malayalam playback singing by M. G. Radhakrishnan in 1979 and went on to become a regular singer for many malayalam musicians including Raveendran and the likes. Her hundreds of duets with K. J. Yesudas in Malayalam and thousands with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam in all other languages are the most hummed songs by the music lovers. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry in Chennai under the guidance of film music composer Ilaiyaraaja.