From PM Modi to Mammootty: Kochi whiz kid makes magical portraits out of Rubik's cube

A paint palette, watercolour or even a drawing pencil might be put to shame by this 14-year-old from Kochi. So is the perfection of the portraits born out of hundreds of Rubik's cubes arranged accordingly inside a frame by this teenaged wizard from Kochi.

The method known as the Rubik's Cube Mosaic Portrait is something by which, Advaidh Manazhy, a class IX student from Kochi has been exhilarating one and all around him of late.

Recently, the Universal Records Forum (URF) an India-based records organization presented him with a certificate of merit for completing a portrait of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, clocking a record time of 56.05 minutes during a stage performance at the club house of his apartment complex in Kakkanad.

The onlookers including the URF representatives were flabbergasted by the perfection of the portrait that meticulously resembled and absorbed the character of the person, quite like the painting of a seasoned artist.

Advaidh has been into solving Rubik's cube since the age of seven. But his passion for the portrait began only recently, with the onset of the pandemic induced lockdown, to be precise. And he has made more than a dozen portraits of prominent figures, include the likes of prime minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, actors Mammootty and Mohanlal and so on.

"The portraits are made by the ordinary Rubik's cubes we buy from the market. They are then arranged by adjusting the six colour tones they bear on their surfaces," says a zealous Advaidh about his art.

The task of Rubik's Cube Mosaic Art is a technique wherein art and skill are rolled into one. Besides, it's a painstaking activity as it involves several hours of conscious effort and hundreds of cubes, which need to be wound and adjusted for the required colour for each pixel of the decided portrait. The formation of portraits following hours of patient pursuit is simply magical and witnessing him doing it is really a wonderment.

"Advaidh's liking for Rubik's cube began when he was in Dubai. He was initiated into the world of cube puzzle by his cousin at the age of seven," says his mother Bindya, who is also an artist. She says that her father was an artist and her son might have got the trait form there. Advaidh continued with his Rubik's cube solving even after he moved to Kochi with his family. But he turned to portrait making only a year ago.

"In the initial stage he used to make some pictures using the cubes, we didn't take seriously. But, one day when he made picture from our wedding photo, we're wonder struck we encouraged him in his works on human portraits," says Bindya.

Advaidh's father Girish M, who is in the business of handloom fabrics, is also supportive of his son's talent.

“Since the technique' is not very common, people are not much aware of how the portraits are done," Bindya says. She also rues that there are no enough platforms in the state or even in India where kids can showcase this kind of talent.

Advaidh is a class 9 student of Bhavans Adarsha Vidyalaya, Kakkanad. He has a younger sister named Avantika who is studying class 2. "Making a portrait of our prime minister Narendra Modi in front of him is my biggest dream," says Advaidh.