Bhavana Menon used THIS Bollywood actress as reference for Case of Kondana role

Malayalam actress Bhavana, who had a string of Kannada releases in 2021, namely Inspector Vikram, srikrishna@gmail.com, Bhajarangi 2 and Govinda Govinda, gets her first release in over two years with this week’s Case of Kondana. Although Bhavana had worked on another Kannada film called Pink Note, that is yet to release, which is why there’s quite a gap between her last release and Case of Kondana.

In the film, an investigative thriller directed by Devi Prasad Shetty, Bhavana plays ACP Lakshmi, a senior officer charged with getting to the bottom of a series of home invasion murders. The actress sports a more serious demeanour in the film and even got some serious action sequences as well. The film also has Chinnari Muttha Vijay Raghavendra in the lead, as one of her sub-ordinate officers. Bhavana is the only officer not in khaki in the film, a choice she had made when taking up the role.

Case of Kondana movie review - A gripping thriller led brilliantly by Vijay Raghavendra and Bhavana Menon 

The idea, says the Bengaluru-based actress, was to have a more manly styling for the character in keeping with her . “I conceptualized the look and then ran my ideas past the costume designer and she procured what I wanted. I wanted something different, more like Rani Mukerji in Mardaani and suggested the jeans and jute shirt look. Essentially, it’s like one costume. I sent the team references, including the big watch and black threads on the same wrist,” says Bhavana.

The film, meanwhile, has got a limited release, which she is hopeful will pick up after positive word of mouth spreads about the content. “It’s a good film and footfalls should pick up over the weekend. The promotions of Case of Kondana had been rather low-key, because Vijay had such a big tragedy in his life (the actor lost his wife a few months ago),” she adds.