"Lights, camera, ACTION!! And my legs were shaking," guffawed 44-year-old Dev Raturi sitting in what he calls China's first India-themed restaurant, Red Fort, which he opened in 2013 in Xi'an City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, recollecting memories of his first acting audition in 1998 in India's tinsel town Mumbai.

To date, he has showcased his acting prowess in 20 Chinese films and web series since 2015 and shared screen space with popular Chinese stars like Liu Tao, Wu Gang, Zhang Jin, Li Zhiting, and Qiao Zhenyu, among others. 

The cinematic quality of his life has inspired over 15 documentaries, including those produced by CCTV, Xinhua, Mango TV and History Channel.

The beginning

In 1998, Raturi, who originally hails from a remote village in Tehri Garhwal district of the northeastern Indian state of Uttarakhand, spent more than six months in Mumbai after he ran away from his uncle's house in New Delhi to pursue a career in acting.

"It was Bruce Lee who inspired me," Raturi told CGTN Digital, adding he always wanted to come to China but lacked funds. 

The reality soon struck hard. He was just one of the millions in the country who land in the "city of dreams" every year to try their luck in Bollywood. 

"For months, I was just sitting behind the crowds … clapping and running. I didn't even get a chance to face the camera," he recalled.

It was a setback, but he wasn't defeated. He learned martial arts for two years as he waited tables in New Delhi restaurants. Soon he started giving martial arts classes to kids.

"I never stopped thinking about Bruce Lee and China, even when I was wiping tables and washing dishes as a waiter," said Raturi.

Empty hands and a pocket full of dreams

Raturi's idea of coming to China was met with great reluctance from his friends. "My friends laughed at me, they didn't know anything about China's progress," he told CGTN Digital. But it was also a friend who helped him buy air tickets to Shenzhen in 2005.

"I came empty-handed to China. I had no money and no job," he said. With his broken Chinese he managed to secure work at a restaurant, where he worked for seven years before opening his own restaurant in 2013.

"I realized there was a cultural gap between India and China. Indians hardly know anything about the Chinese and vice versa, said Raturi, who now owns 8 Indian restaurants in China, adding he thought hospitality could "close this gap."

The land of opportunity

The dream of becoming an actor took a backseat as the restaurant business thrived. But soon, a fortunate stroke of serendipity revived his dormant aspirations.

"A Chinese filmmaker visited my restaurant. He was looking for a location to shoot and an actor for a low-budget online movie. I readily offered to act," Raturi told CGTN Digital. "I never forgot about my dream."

Since 2015, Raturi has played a panoply of roles – a gangster, an immigration officer, a pirate boss, a detective. "It's not true that I am always the bad guy in the movie," he said, adding, "I am playing an astronaut, a master chef, and a film producer in my upcoming films."

Raturi, who has at least nine movies and web series ready for release in 2021, will be seen with popular Chinese stars Liu Tao in "Star of Ocean" (星辰大海) and Zhang Jin in "Mercenary" (佣兵). His film "Special Bodyguard" (特殊保镖) will hit the theaters next month.

"This [China] is the land of opportunity if anyone has talent and can work hard, I am sure can achieve his/her dreams," Raturi concluded.