Barve was born in Sangli, Maharashtra.She married actor, Shafi Inamdar. Bhakti died on February 12, 2001 when her car rammed on an electric pole near Alibaug on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, while returning to Bombay from Wai in Satara district after performing at a stage show, when the mishap occurred, she was 52.
Bhakti began her career by acting for Sudha Karmarkar\'s Little Theatre. She also had a short stint as announcer on All India Radio and later as a news reader on Doordarshan and shot into fame after her memorable performance in Marathi drama “Ti Phul Rani”, written by P.L. Deshpande. She acted in many TV serials and dramas, besides Hindi films, Kundan Shah\'s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and Govind Nihlani\'s Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998). She was also the chairperson of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Sammelan.