A man from Uttarakhand, Dev Raturi, has achieved extraordinary success by becoming an actor in China and being featured in a textbook for his inspiring journey. Dev’s path to becoming an actor in China was filled with challenges and hardships, but his determination and perseverance led him to achieve his dreams.
Dev was a big fan of Bruce Lee and wanted to become a martial arts expert. This passion led him to China. However, in India, he worked in Delhi for decades to support his family. But this did not stop him, and he went to China and started working at an Indian restaurant as a waiter with a monthly salary of Rs 10,000. With his hard work, Dev started to learn Mandarin and became fluent in it, also adopting Chinese culture.
“While working as a waiter in the restaurant for a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, I gained proficiency in Mandarin. My dream of getting trained in martial arts kept me up at night. However, my hopes were shattered after the locals there told me that for further training, I needed to go to the Shaolin Temple, a renowned monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu, which I couldn’t afford,” Dev, a Class XII dropout, was quoted as saying by Times Of India.
However, he did not lose hope and after seven years of struggle, he managed to become a manager in a high-end restaurant. In 2013, he even opened his own restaurant in Red Fort, Xian.
At his restaurant, Dev met a Chinese director who offered him a small role in a TV series named “SWAT.” After that, he has featured in 35 Chinese films and TV serials, and he now owns eight restaurants in the country.
“My work in Chinese cinema helped me become a popular face. I have received immense love from locals who helped me during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have adopted me as their own,” Dev, who lives in Xian with his wife Anjali and two sons, Arav, 11, and nine-year-old Arnav, told TOI. Dev has brought over close to 150 unemployed men from his village to China, giving them jobs and opportunities.
His remarkable journey and achievements have made him so renowned that his life story was included in a Class 7 English textbook in Xi’an City, as per CGTN.