How deeply layered and disturbing was Mari Selvaraj’s Pariyerum Perumal ? If you were to design a minimalist poster, conveying the crux of the movie, where would you begin? With Karuppi, the dog, or with Pariyan (played by Kathir)? For Rajesh Seshadri, the challenge was to identify one particular scene that would convey the core conceit of Pariyerum Perumal : caste discrimination. That is how he zeroed in on the climax shot, whose closing frame is filled with two tea glasses — a metaphorical implication of superiority. “Another designer would have used a single glass to show the difference. But I didn’t want to traverse that way. If you look at my poster, I have used two glasses with shades of white and black,” says Rajesh Seshadri, who works as a visual designer in an IT firm.
Rajesh Seshadri
Poster design, for Rajesh, is not a hobby but a passion. His first shot at designing was in 2015, when Thani Oruvan hit screens. Even before that, his minimalist design for Everest starring Jake Gyllenhaal received appreciation from his “inner circle”, consisting of friends and colleagues. Rajesh came out of his cocoon and joined Twitter, in an attempt to show his work to the outside world. His attention to detail is one quality that has often surprised filmmakers. “The design I had done for Aramm went viral on Twitter. Since then, a lot of celebrities, including Sivakarthikeyan and Aishwarya Rajesh, have tweeted my work,” he shares, adding that the poster design for Pariyerum Perumal grabbed eyeballs recently, as the movie completed its first year anniversary.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam
Rajesh does not design posters for every Tamil movie. He prefers to take up movies that are slightly offbeat and informative at the same time. “The idea is to get into the director’s shoes and understand what he tries to convey through his movie. I make sure that I design my posters two weeks after the movie’s release, so that the audience can watch it,” says the 32-year-old, about his process that typically takes an hour’s time.
Super Deluxe
A movie buff, Rajesh says poster design is a new trend in Kollywood, and feels that it is going to stay for a while. In fact, his posters were used as a promotional material by well-known production houses. “The makers of Aruvi (Dream Warrior Pictures) approached me, asking if they can use my poster for promotion. I asked them to retain my watermark and they obliged. But that’s just a one-off,” he signs off.
