Bhavana was born as Nandini Ramanna in the Mogaveera community before her name was changed by Kodlu Ramakrishna. She started her career with a Tulu film, Maribale. The film did not do well, but Bhavana was noted by the Kannada film producers. After Maribale she got noticed further for her role as a cop in No.1, a Kannada film. As she found the going easy her inconsequential film Nee Mudida Mallige brought her sour experience. She got a chance to act in debutant director Seetharam Karanth’s musical hit Chandramukhi Pranasakhi, where she acted alongside Ramesh Aravind, and Prema, the film was one of her best films in her career. Bhavana did Kavitha Lankesh’s Deveeri which got Aravindan Puraskar award. In Rashtrageethe she got a vamp role from noted director K. V. Raju. She was not in a position to denounce the offer, as the director was a stalwart. Director and cinematographer of Malayalam filmsDinesh Babu offered her a role opposite Ramesh Aravind, but to Bhavana’s bad luck Deepavali, also starring Vishnuvardhan failed at the box office. She was also in a song in Vishnuvardhan's Parva. Bhavana did an Item Dance in filmNinagagi. Bhavana acted in Kavita Lankesh's second film, Alemaari. Alemaari, made for the National Film Development Corporation, was previewed at many prestigious film festivals. but the Films Division did not release her film. Shanti, an off-beat Kannada film directed by the noted writer, Baragur Ramachandrappa, has earned the rare distinction of being the second Indian film to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. It has entered the Guinness Book for in the category `Fewest actors in a narrative film'. It was adjudged the second best film for the State award. Bhavana moved to Mumbai and even did a Bollywood film, Family, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan. Bhavana was adjudged the "Best Actress" for her role in Bhagirathi. She was one of Top Kannada Actresses of 2010 by Rediff.
Filmography
Television
Godrej Game Aadi, Life Change Maadi
Politics
Bhavana campaigned for Congress candidates in the 2013 assembly elections in Davanagere among other constituencies. In 2012, she had campaigned for Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress in Chikmagalur by-election to the Lok Sabha. In 2018 Bhavana Ramanna officially joined BJP