Exclusive! From being a Mollywood import 11 years ago, I am now Kannadada sose, says Bhavana

When she first came into the Kannada film industry 11 years ago Puneeth Rajkumar’s blockbuster Jackie, Bhavana was the latest Mollywood import in town. She followed that up with films like Vishnuvardhana, Romeo, Topiwala, Chowka, Tagaru, 99, etc., and has been enjoying the love from Kannada audiences. “In fact, today, people call me Kannadada sose, perhaps because I have made Bengaluru home after I got married. But audiences have always been accepting and loving and I am eager for them to see my latest film, Bhajarangi 2, which releases on October 29,” says the actress, who despite being a little under the weather (what with the sudden dip in temperatures in Bengaluru), sounds excited about her first fantasy flick. “I am a big fan of the genre and jumped at the chance to be a part of this film,” she says, adding, “A few years ago, I had done a special song in Mukunda Murari, which was choreographed by Harsha master (the director of Bhajarangi 2). Back then, he had said that he wanted to do a film with me, but it was only a good two years later that he actually came back with a narration. The minute he dropped the words ‘fantasy movie’, I was sold. Of course, I was also hooked to the story, so that’s how I became a part of Bhajarangi 2.” 

Since the poster reveal of her character, Chinminiki, about two weeks ago, there has been a lot of buzz around it. “Chinminiki is a very different character compared to all my other work; I have done bold and tomboyish kind of roles in other language films, but in Kannada, I think, I have always been playing a soft-spoken girl. Chinminiki is not only bold, but also has a rowdy vibe, who even has a comic side-kick, whom she bosses around. While I am not at liberty to discuss more about the role and the story, suffice to say that she is someone who is trying to bring in a fair amount of change in the village she lives in. The best part about her is that there is a fun, light-hearted side to her as well,” explains Bhavana.

While her look in the film, including the sari, curly hair and bindi, have been widely discussed, the actress adds that there was a major effort to get her Kannada lines right. “I have always insisted that film teams should provide me with my lines at least a day or two in advance, so that I can learn them by heart. I don’t like having someone prompt the lines while I am acting; I can’t focus and emote correctly, although I have seen other senior actors acting their hearts out, while lines are being fed to them. Despite my best efforts, in one scene of Bhajarangi 2, I responded with ‘OK’, which no one caught then, but spotted later when they were checking the shots of the day and doing a rough edit. It was then rectified later,” reminisces the actress.

The film, though, is her second outing with Shivarajkumar, after Tagaru, in which she had a relatively smaller role. Is this a better deal? “Yeah and no,” she laughs, adding, “You will have to see for yourself when the film opens in theatres on October 29. But here’s the thing; this film has a huge ensemble cast and there’s a limit to the screen time each person can get when the focus is, no doubt, on Shivarajkumar.”

In the past couple of years, Bhavana has only been doing Kannada films; a conscious choice as she has been distancing herself from Malayalam cinema owing to an ongoing legal case. “I need to preserve my sanity, so, I have chosen to not work in that industry for a while. Instead, I have been focusing on Kannada cinema. Bhajarangi 2 is the last of my films that were ready for release. I have not committed to anything new, although I had a narration even today. But there are a few promising offers, which might take another month or two to take off,” she signs off.