Chitnahalli Udayashankar (18 February 1934 – 2 July 1993; born in Chitnahalli) was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional songs. He was called 'Sahithya Rathna' (gem of literature). His dialogues, screenplay and lyrics were instrumental in the success of many movies of Rajkumar. Udayashankar received four Karnataka State Film Award for Best Dialogue and two Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay. He was the son of lyricist Chi. Sadashivaiah. His son Chi. Guru Dutt is an actor and director in Kannada and Tamil feature films.