9 hours agoAuthor: Kiran Jain/Arunima Shukla
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Rahul Dev was called the most dreaded villain after the 90s. Despite being from a non-film background, Rahul managed to make his place in the industry. However, an incident in his personal life brought him to the brink of ruin.
There came a time when after working in 80 films, he stopped getting movie offers. Makers started avoiding casting him. Finally, he had to go to a controversial show like Bigg Boss to start his second innings. After Bigg Boss, Rahul returned to his acting career again.
In this time's Struggle Story, we have covered Rahul Dev's life journey full of struggle. The actor talked to us about every painful moment of his life.
Read Rahul Dev's struggle-filled story in his own words
He has played for Delhi's Under 19 and Under 16 cricket team
Rahul was inclined towards cricket since childhood. He says about this, 'I used to play a lot of cricket. I have also played in Delhi's Under 19 and Under 16 team. However, I never had the courage to tell my parents that I want to take a break from studies and focus completely on cricket. This was the reason why I started moving away from cricket.'
People in the industry used to say- Rahul will not be able to become a hero
After failing to become a cricketer, Rahul turned to modelling. He did many fashion shows in India and abroad. While modelling, Rahul decided to enter films. He got work in the film Dus (1997) through his good looks and audition. However, the film's director Mukul Anand died during the making, due to which the film could never be released. After this, Rahul entered films with the 2000 film Champion.
Rahul told that his parents did not show any displeasure when he joined films, but the people of the industry did not welcome him well. He says, 'Parents always supported me. They never forced me to become an officer or a teacher. However, the attitude of the industry towards me was negative.
Before I came into films, my brother Mukul Dev was doing a lot of modelling and working in the TV industry. People in the industry were sure that he would achieve something, but due to my first film not getting released, people started looking at me with a negative attitude. They used to say that you will never be able to become a good actor.
Got a setback for being loyal to the director
Rahul further says, 'While shooting for the film Das, other makers used to bring me many offers, but I used to reject them all. I was busy being loyal to the director. I was waiting for the film to be completed, which was probably my stupidity. The film was shelved, this news spread in the entire industry. After this, the offers stopped coming. Then I barely got work in the film Champion.'
Wife supported me financially in Mumbai
Rahul told that his initial journey to Mumbai was tiring for him. He did not want to do modeling and was not getting offers for big films. Then his wife Reena became his support in this difficult time.
Rahul says, 'In the 90s, the film industry looked down upon models. That is why after shifting here in 1996, I kept wandering around in search of films.
There was no other source of income. In such a situation, my wife Reena supported me a lot. She was a lawyer by profession. Whenever I was offered a good role in films, I used to do it so that I could also earn some money.
Rahul talked about the worst time of his life. He said, 'Before doing Bigg Boss, I had worked in about 80 films. I had signed 13 films in 2009. During this time, my wife Reena died of a disease. Even today, when I talk about this, I shudder. That moment was very painful. My son was also very young. It was becoming difficult to handle him along with work.
After his wife's fourth day, he went to Mauritius for the shooting of the film Blue. He was not feeling like working but there was no other option. In this difficult time, his mother came to Mumbai for some time to take care of her son but when the weather was not suitable for her, she had to go back to Delhi.
After completing the shooting of all the films by 2011, I shifted to Delhi with my son for some time. After this, on the insistence of my son, I came back to Mumbai and the struggle for work started again.
Tried his hand in business too, then got drowned in debt
Rahul told that he also did business with Milind Soman for some time, but later he got into a lot of debt. About this he says, 'On a suggestion from my Guru Ji, I also tried my hand at business. I was very fond of fitness from the beginning. Keeping this in mind, I started 6-7 fitness centers along with Milind Soman.
With the passage of time, I started incurring huge losses. Soon all my savings started to run out. It became a loss-making deal for me. After this, I accepted that I can only do acting.
Rahul is in a relationship with actress Mugdha Godse
Rahul has been in a relationship with Mugdha Godse for a long time. During the conversation, Rahul shared the story of his first meeting with Mugdha. He said, 'I had gone to all the functions of the wedding of Anupam, the owner of Shadi.Com. I saw Mugdha on the day of the sangeet ceremony. We also talked. Then we exchanged numbers.
After this, our meetings continued to increase and we got into a relationship.
