Biography
Kirtana Fanning also known as U. Kirthana (born September 21, 1981) is an Indian Television Producer, Director and screenwriter. She has substantially contributed to new age development media in Southeast Asia, finding her niche in revolutionizing television media content. She has pioneered multiple projects and is best known as creator, head writer, and Producer for projects such as Romapuri Pandian (historical drama series), Arukkani 2 Azhagurani (reality show), Kalasam (drama series), and Maya Thirai (web series). Kirtana has been a part of projects ranging in variety. She has been involved in genres including drama, comedy, thriller, reality television, television film, multilingual projects, and talk shows. Kirtana was born in Chennai, India. She is the oldest daughter of Kutty Padmini, a legendary South Indian television producer, and K. Udayan a business man. She studied in Sacred Hearts Matriculation school, in Chennai. While growing up, Kirtana was always referred to as the dreamer. She would often accompany her mother to television production sets, which inspired an interest in the industry. In college, she began working as a script coordinator for various productions. She divided her time between working as a script coordinator, developing stories for television and undergrad studies. Kirtana attended Ethiraj College, Chennai, where she pursued a major in Economics and earned her bachelor's degree in 2002. After college, she worked on projects as the Executive and Associate Producer and also Produced her own series. Then, she went to Dubai to gain international experience and worked as the production Manager at Ten Sports for the English Premier League, live events. She later returned to India to continue her work, established her production house, and spearheaded new content in the South East Asian market. Her ambition to learn more about the creative industry and her passion for writing motivated her to get a Diploma in Screenplay Writing, from New York Film Academy in 2007. After returning from New York, she immediately started working on a project for Sun TV, which she Co-Produced. Kirtana has two sisters. She married Jeffery Fanning in 2015. While in college, Kirthana worked as the script Coordinator for over 400 episodes of shows on Sun TV, Sun Network (Police Diary and Mandhera Vaasal) and Mediacorp TV12, Singapore (Swarangal and Cinta Bollywood 1). After graduating, she worked as the Associate Producer on a drama series Kannadi Kadhavugal for Vijay TV. In her next project, she took the big leap into producing her first show Swathi Muthu for Udaya TV, Sun Network, in Kannada. She also produced her first Tamil series Kana Kanden Thozhi for Jaya TV. She later went on to Co-Produce Kalasam for Sun TV, Sun Network. Her production house, Starlight Works earned the name of curating new age digital media content. Wanting to venture into reality content, she led South India's very first reality makeover show for Jaya TV, Arukkaani 2 Azhagurani. Despite her love for new age media, she is also actively involved in community work. She has always had a leading to contribute to the youth, especially since she has played a big part in raising her two younger sisters. She is the Trustee of Kreeda - A Sports Foundation, which caters to underprivileged youth and supports them in their endearment of sports education. She has worked with many veteran and popular actors from the South Indian Film industry.
