She made her debut in Tamil movie Praptham (1971) opposite Sivaji Ganesan and Sreekanth. Her most significant role was in the film Alaigal directed by C. V. Sridhar. Her other notable films include Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham, Ulagam Sutrum Valiban and Moondru Deivangal (as Sivakumar's co-star). She was better known for her soft roles. In Sampoorna Ramayanam (1971), she mesmerized the audience and critics with her performance as Goddess Sita.

She acted with almost all stars of her time. In Telugu she acted with N.T.R., A.N.R., Shoban Babu, Krishna, Krishnam Raju etc. In Kannada she has paired with Dr. Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Uday Kumar, Rajesh, Srinath, Vishnuvardhan etc. and in Tamil she has acted with actors like M.G.R., Sivaji Ganesan, Muthuraman, A.V.M. Rajan etc. She has starred in A.M. Raja's memorable comeback song, "Senthamaraye Senthen Ithazhe", co-starred with A.V.M. Rajan. Her part was sung by Jikki from the film "Pugunda Veedu". Nomu (Telugu) movie can be credited as her biggest hits she has received as a heroine.

Tamil

Hindi

1. Shola Aur Shabnam (1961)...young Sandhya
2. Arab Ka Sitara (1961)
3. Kala Jadoo (1963)
4. Black Arrow (1965)
5. Badmaash (1969)
6. Return Of Johny (1972)
7. Aarambh (1976)

Kannada

Telugu

Malayalam

1. Moonnupookkal (1971)
2. Ezhuthatha Kadha (1972)...Meena
3. Alakal (1974)
4. Aanandham Paramaanandham (1977)...Rekha

Chandrakala died prematurely of cancer on 21 June 1999, aged 48.