Meet the Rajini fan who lost his memory but not his idol

Of all the stories--some true, some apocryphal--that have been strung around Rajinikanth, adding to his larger-than-life image, this one is quite special. 

Vinci Raj (photo below), who designed the posters of Kabali had lost his memory in a terrible road accident near Manipal in Karnataka in 2015. He remembered one thing, though. His craze for Rajinikanth, whose movies he grew up watching.

So when Pa. Ranjith, Kabali's director offered the film to Vinci last year, for the 35-year-old designer, it was like a higher power paving the path for him to recover. 

"I was in very bad shape. Even today, I do not remember time and dates very well. But Ranjith for whose debut film Attakathi I had designed the posters, told me I want you to do the film. I got into it only for experiencing the Superstar aura firsthand,'' says Vinci Raj.

Vinci requested his friend Ranjith for a month's time to go back to his textbooks and re-acquaint himself with design softwares. 

 Having decided how he wanted to capture the Superstar, Vinci, who works as a senior creative director at the ad agency FCB Ulka in Bengaluru, set about preparing for the two-day photoshoot in Chennai. He was however convinced that the shoot didn’t require any additional groundwork. Rajinikanth would take it to another level with his sheer presence.

"I was given complete freedom by Ranjith to do whatever I wished to. He was an art college student so we get along well in terms of sensibilities. The intention was to give a realistic feel to Thalaivar, make the viewer relate to the ageing don. I would say Rajini Sir surrendered himself to the manner in which I wanted to capture him,'' recalls Vinci Raj.

Vinci has shot ten posters, four of which have been released so far. The first of the lot featured Rajinikanth sitting stylishly on a sofa, sporting a white beard, with the Petronas Twin towers in Malaysia in the background. The response to the poster from fans was a big thumbs-up. Vinci says he read the entire script before designing the posters as he believes the basic job of the poster is to evoke curiosity among the audience for the film.

“After we finished the set of pictures, ‘Thalaivar’ saw them and liked what he had shot. And said, ‘Kabali Vandutaan da' (Kabali has arrived!),” says Vinci with a big smile, as if reliving that moment of the ultimate compliment from his idol. 

Vinci who has designed posters for half a dozen movies so far, obviously puts Kabali at the top of the pile. An accomplished director of ad films, he is an award-winning artist bagging trophies for his films on road safety. 

“But Kabali has changed my life,'' he says, waiting for the remaining six posters to be released in the next three weeks.

Vinci Raj photo by: Gowtham Shravan Kumar