Rehaan Raas Dev began his career as a Chartered Accountant. But he gave up a lucrative job to pursue his dream of modelling and acting. It has been a journey of grit and hardwork from a struggler to winning the title of Mr.India Men’s Physique, 2017.
While he always had a passion for acting but as this did not fit into the conventional career options, he let it go and followed the conventional path. He was good at academics, and put his heart into studies.
Rehaan says, “I got completely enticed by the intellect and brilliance of a Chartered Accountant and decided to become one of the greatest CAs of the country. In pursuance of this, I secured All India Rank #3 in CA Foundation. I fell in love with this brilliant course and my path of learning was very satisfying. I qualified CA and went deeper into Finance by further studies with CFA Institute, USA. I worked for 2 long years analyzing businesses and numbers, before finally starting to feel that I was ‘wearing out’”.
He was realising the cost of doing something besides his original passion. He wanted to quit his job, but he could not figure out what he would do next. That is when he realised that even if it was a risk, he had to take a plunge into acting and modelling.
He says, “I could live so many stories, characters and emotions. And these performances were going to serve as a means of learning life for people. What could be more fulfilling? A very important reason I wanted to be an Actor is that I wanted to become the person an actor is – ‘Free’. Free of inhibitions, ego and fear. He lives truthfully and is full of compassion. It was time to reclaim my life and my dreams.”
With this in his mind, he came to Mumbai. He knew it would be easy in the city of dreams where many come with similar aspirations and the competition is too fierce to even think about it. He began learning acting professionally.
Fitness had always been an aspiration to him. He knew that the human body was designed as a piece of art, and he wanted to uncover this aspect of himself. This was also the time he set himself the goal of Mr. India.
“Preparing for this was not easy at all. It required months of training, and a single-focussed determination. It demanded great discipline. I would advise any aspirant that you have to train your mind, and the body follows. Do whatever you do with some thought behind it. Even in modelling, body is just the vehicle, the mind is the real controller.”
Like in any field with no set path, modelling has it ups and downs. Rehaan says, “I enrolled for the country’s Annual Fitness Modelling contest. It was my first time and I was nervous knowing there will be seasoned competitors from all around the country. For me, it all boiled down to whether I could deal with my fears and perform like nobody exists.”
By putting all his mind and conviction to it, he won at the National Level. He says, “One thing that I learnt from my ‘stage experience’ is that once you’re off your fears, you just want to perform and perform and perform. You’re in love with that place. You know that the moment at hand is all what is going to matter and you want to give your best. It is sacred.”
Rehaan continues with his foray into acting. His advise to others working towards similar goals is that though it may seem that the competition is tough, one should keep working hard. Belief in self is more important when you are surrounded by naysayers.
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