Ravi Valecha, better known as Master Ravi was known for playing junior Amitabh Bachchan in many movies in the 80s. While he started out with movies, he decided to take a different path as he grew up and is a striking example of someone whose life has taken several unexpected turns — and who managed to find success along the way.Ravi entered the film industry at just four years old. He went on to become one of the highest-paid child actors of his generation, appearing in more than 300 films across nine languages and multiple industries, including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.Yet acting was only one chapter of his life. After stepping away from films, Ravi followed his interest in food, studied at IIH Mumbai and trained as a professional chef. He subsequently worked with the Taj and built experience across the hospitality sector. Today, he heads the administration department of a leading company while simultaneously working towards establishing a film institute that would make acting education more accessible and affordable.Interestingly, his journey into cinema began with an unexpected interaction with veteran actor Shashi Kapoor on the sets of Fakira.“My brother was working on the film Fakira when I accompanied him on the set. On set, every actor and director had dedicated chairs for them. I was four and outspoken. I was sitting on this chair when this man, after his shot, walked up to me. He told me, ‘You are sitting on my chair.’ I said, ‘But I am sitting and I am not going to get up.’“He then asked, ‘Can we do some compromise here?’ I was like, ‘Okay, we can do that. How about you sit on the chair and I sit on your lap?’ This man was nobody else but Shashi Kapoor. He liked my confidence. He then told the director to cast me in this film,” Ravi told Explore 1.That conversation led to his first role in Fakira, where he played Shabana Azmi’s four-year-old son. What began as an accidental introduction to the world of cinema soon became a 14-year career.By the time he turned six, Ravi had already worked in Cheetah Mera Yaar, directed by K Parvez and featuring Vinod Khanna, Amjad Khan and Neetu Singh. He portrayed a young prince who is kidnapped, escapes and eventually reaches the jungle.The film, however, was never released. Still, Ravi remembers one particular sequence from the project vividly — and it involved a real lioness.“Filmmaker K Parvez was directing a film starring Vinod Khanna, Amjad Khan and Neetu Singh. I too was part of the film, where I played the role of a prince. The kid gets kidnapped and then escapes and goes to the jungle. Unfortunately, the film didn’t release. There was a scene in the film where a lioness was feeding her cubs. The kid crawls in and also gets fed. This was a true scene, with a real lioness and her cubs. I have had a lioness milk for real,” he told The Hillary Times.Ravi also filmed sequences involving several other wild animals during the making of the movie.As his career progressed, he became particularly recognisable for playing younger versions of Amitabh Bachchan in several films. The resemblance and his frequent association with the superstar earned him the nickname “Junior Amitabh Bachchan.”His popularity as a child actor also came with considerable financial rewards. At the height of his career during the 1980s, Ravi was reportedly paid between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 a day — an amount that would translate to approximately Rs 75,000-90,000 today after adjusting for inflation.But Ravi says it wasn’t simply his popularity that made him valuable to filmmakers. His ability to perform scenes without repeated takes was another major reason directors preferred working with him.“I was the one and only child star. Like how they say Rajesh Khanna was the first superstar, similarly, Master Ravi was the first child star. I used to do at least four shifts in a day. Things were very expensive back then. They had rolls back then, so they had to be very precise. I had a record that I never used to give a retake. Maybe this was one of the reasons why directors, actors and producers favoured me. All they had to do was just explain the scene to me once.”Behind the success, however, was a childhood that was largely spent on film sets rather than in school or with friends.“I lost too many things. In life, you cannot achieve anything without sacrificing something. I earned name, fame and wealth. But I lost my childhood as I was working from age 4 to age 18,” Ravi told Explore 1.The experience also forced him to develop an adult perspective at a very young age.“I used to think like a 24-year-old at 8. I lost my childhood and teenage.”After spending 14 years as a child actor, Ravi eventually decided to step away from the spotlight. He maintains that the decision was not sudden but part of a carefully considered plan.“It was a planned break. I had worked in several of Manmohan Desai films, the last being Giraftaar (1985). He loved me a lot. So after this film, he asked me to go out of the limelight, work on my personality and said that he would launch me as the lead star. Unfortunately, he died during this time and I was never launched after that.”With the possibility of a transition into leading-man roles disappearing, Ravi chose to build a completely different career.Having missed out on a conventional education because of his childhood acting commitments, he eventually enrolled at IIH Mumbai, driven by his interest in culinary arts.He graduated as a professional chef and spent a couple of years working with the Taj. His career then expanded beyond the kitchen as he explored various areas of hospitality, including room service, eventually establishing himself in the broader business.Today, Ravi leads the administration department of a prominent company. At the same time, he is working on another long-held ambition: creating a film institute where aspiring actors can receive affordable acting training.And despite the many twists his life has taken, there is one childhood ambition that remains alive — becoming a pilot.“I always wanted to become a pilot. But during those times, you had to study science and the courses were extremely expensive, and we had our limitations. Now, I have applied to the Bombay Flying Club to learn hobby flying. There is no age limit to anything,” he told Diksha Deo.
