He leaves you dumfounded. His looks, his achievements, his struggle is a roller-coaster ride that can inspire even the pessimists.

The first impression when one comes in contact with him is, “my God, he is really handsome.” Here is someone special.

This is Dhruv or Dhruva. The reason why he leaves you confused with a lot of emotions is the fact that he is the first deaf and dumb (rather, with a slurred speech) person in the history of world cinema to act as a hero in a full-fledged movie.

It all started for Dhruv when he used to watch his father Dr Suresh Sharma acting in Kannada movies namely ‘Aase,’ ‘Asha Kirana’ and ‘Yaaru Hone.’

He also developed a yearning for acting in movies. “Once I took him to a dubbing centre when he was 16.  He asked me what it was and when I told him that voices of some of the stars are dubbed, he suddenly gave me a jolt,” recalled Dr Sharma and added, “then, I too can act and my voice can be dubbed.”

This was the time when life took a complete turn for Dhruv and his family. Producers H Ramesh and R T Siddaram were looking for a hero for their action-oriented film based on friendship.

Having confidence

They broached the subject of casting Dhruv in their film titled Snehanjali with Dr Sharma. When the father expressed his reservations, they said, “You have no confidence in your son, but we have.” Then, they had to convince Anant Nag, one of the lead actors in the film.  Anant Nag met the boy at his residence and decided to take it up as a challenge. 

Dhruv began the preparations in right earnest. “The first time I faced the camera my heart was beating very fast. Once Puneet Rajkumar sounded the clap board and the cameraman called out roll, I relaxed,”  he said .

The movie which has already won a State award for the best actor is worth a dekko, as Dhruv has come up with a commendable performance.

He is also an excellent cricketer, an all-rounder. He has captained the deaf and dumb Indian cricket team which won the world cup in Lucknow in 2005.

“I have played with Robin Utthappa and still play for the normal cricket team,” he said and added “I am sad that the KSCA has not recognised our achievements.”

Computer whiz kid

A computer whiz kid, Dhruv runs his own business Vesper lab, manufacturers of animal health products. He wants to stick to only Kannada movies and is now shooting for his second movie, ‘Brindavan Colony.’

Coming out of the interview along with a peek at the film, this reporter was speechless! One must watch the movie, slated for release soon,  to experience it.