Dhruv Sharma

Dhruv Sharma (1982 – 1 August 2017) was an Indian Kannada-language actor and cricketer.

Acting career
Dhruv Sharma played a small role in Yahoo (2004). He made his debut as a lead actor with Snehanjali (2007), which won the Guinness Book of World Record for the first film to have a deaf-mute person in the lead role. The film received mixed reviews but Dhruv's performance was praised. His next film was the Malayalam film The Hitlist (2012) in which he played the antagonist. The film had a low-key release and notably featured Mohanlal in a voiceover. The film released to negative reviews with a critic opining that his performance was one of the saving graces.

In 2013, he co-starred Roopanjali and Venkatesh Prasad in the romantic comedy Neenandre Ishta Kano. A critic felt that Dhruv was good but that Venkatesh Prasad outshone him. He played a minor role opposite Neha Patil and co-starring his father in Thippaji Circle (2015), a film based on the life of a devadasi. He played one of the leads in the cricket film Bangalore 560023 (2015) co-starring Karthik Jayaram, Chandan Kumar, Rajeev and Chikkanna. In 2018, he starred posthumously in Kicchu (2018), which was based on the issue of deforestation and featured Sudeep in a cameo. The film was notable for also featuring Abhinaya, another deaf-mute actor. The film released to mixed reviews with a critic writing that the film "might not be a drama that keeps you in the edge of your seat, but it has its heart set in the right place". His final film Looty (2018), which featured him opposite Shweta Pandit, released to highly negative reviews.

Cricket career
In 2005, he played for India at the Deaf Cricket World Cup. In 2011, he joined the Karnataka Bulldozers of the Celebrity Cricket League after being noticed by Salman Khan. In 2013, he was the vice captain of the team, which was headed by Sudeep. He was named the Man of the Tournament in a 2016 game that his team won against the Telugu Warriors.

Personal life
Dhruv Sharma was born to businessman and actor Suresh Sharma. He is deaf-mute in Bangalore and found it difficult to follow college lectures after taking some computer science classes. Dhruv died on 1 August 2017. He reportedly faced financial problems prior to his death and consumed poison.