Bharathi Vishnuvardhan also known mononymously as Bharathi, is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Kannada cinema. She began her career in 1966, as a lead actress, with Kalyan Kumar's Love In Bangalore. In a career spanning over 50 years, Bharathi has appeared in 150 films. Apart from 100 films in Kannada, she has also acted in a handful Hindi, Tamil and Telugu andMalayalam films. In the course of her career, she became known for portrayal of the roles mythological and historical characters, and also that of a student, a romantic and a rural belle. Her role in Sri Krishnadevaraya (1970) as Chennambike won her a Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. In 2017, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the government of India. 

Bharathi was born in a Marathi-speaking family in Karnataka. She debuted as a second lead actress in 1964 with V. Shantharam movie - Geet Gaya Patharon Ne. Her first Kannada film was the 1966 romantic comedy Love in Bangalore. It was followed by Kannada movies like Dudde Doddappa, Sandhyaraaga, Gange Gowri, Rajashekhara and Amma in Kannada language during 1960’s. She debut Tamil in the year 1968 with the movie, Uyarndha Manithan where she played a supporting role. Sivaji Ganesan and Sahukar Janaki were its leading actors and the movie was directed by Krishnan-Panju. She debut Telugu with the movie, Ninne Pelladuta in 1968. Padicha Kallan released one year later marked her Malayalam debut.