Bhavana | |
---|---|
Born |
Karthika Menon 6 June 1986 Thrissur, Kerala, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation |
|
Years active | 2002–present |
Partner(s) | Naveen (2011- ;engaged) |
Parent(s) | Balachandran, Pushpa |
Karthika Menon (born 6 June 1986), better known by her stage name Bhavana, is an Indian film actress best known for her work in South Indian films. She has mainly acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu films. Bhavana made her acting debut in Kamal's Malayalam film Nammal (2002), which won her critical acclaim and various honors. In a career spanning over a decade, she has appeared in over 75 films and won two Kerala State Film Awards.
Bhavana was born in Thrissur district, Kerala, as the daughter of Pushpa and assistant cinematographer, late G.Balachandran (died on 24 September 2015). She has an elder brother, Jayadev. She studied at Holy Family Girls' High School, Chembukkavu, Thrissur. Bhavana's brother Jayadev is making his entry in the film industry as director in a Tamil film titled 'Pattinappakkam'.
Bhavana has described herself as a restless person and someone who's "hard to handle". She grew up with a dream to become an actress. As a five-year-old, she used to imitate actress Amala's scenes from the Malayalam film Ente Sooryaputhrikku in front of the mirror and was even willing to jump from a building and break her arm, like Amala's character, did in the film.
Bhavana got engaged to her long time boyfriend and Kannada Producer Naveen on 9 March 2017.
At age 16, she debuted in the Malayalam film Nammal taking the stage name Bhavana (Malayalam ഭാവന "enlightenment, imagination") opposite newcomers Sidharth Bharathan, Jishnu and Renuka Menon. The film was a big success and she got several offers in Malayalam. She won many honors and a Kerala State Special Jury Award for the film. Bhavana was an 11th Standard student when she got her break in films. She has acted with almost all actors in Malayalam cinema and has got many offers lined up in Tamil and did many projects with famous Tamil actors like Ajith Kumar, Madhavan, Jayam Ravi, Bharath, Jiiva and Srikanth.