Artist Raghava KK transforms Dr Shriram Nene’s Ferrari 296 GT3 into a tiger-striped tribute to the family

A race car is already considered a work of art? How, then, do you create art on it? That was both the calling and challenge for Raghava KK, a contemporary Indian artist, as he set out to transform a Ferrari 296 GT3. Bengaluru-based Raghava, who is known for his hand-painted, digital and mixed media art, created a ‘hero backstory’ for Mumbai-based Dr Shriram Nene, a cardiothoracic surgeon and healthcare innovator, his wife, actor Madhuri Dixit Nene and their sons Arin and Ryan, on their Ferrari. 

Raghava who has known the Nene family for over a decade, explains how this machine became his muse, and speed met storytelling, “We had an amazing collaborator in UK-based automotive designer Keith Wood (from Hype Creative, a motorsport graphic design company), who gave me the livery rules. First, we did 2D and 3D renders. Over a white base, I designed the motifs, elements and palette, some hand-painted, and the others digital. The entire artwork was transferred onto a vinyl skin that went over the body of the car.” 

Raghava KK
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At the centre is Raghava’s signature double-headed tiger, which symbolises the tension between engineering and emotion. When draped across the Ferrari, it becomes an Indian aesthetic in motion. “The double-headed tiger is a motif I created to hold together the contradictions of being human. It embodies a duality. To watch the tiger stretched across a Ferrari built for extreme speed feels like releasing the spirit of India onto the global stage. We also have an inherently Indian ‘Horn OK’ sign near the trunk,” says the artist.

The tiger’s tail finds resonance across the trunk
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Draped on the sides are images of Albert Einstein and Iron Man, reflecting a fascination with intellect and imagination, while a tulip drifts quietly across the surface, echoing Nature, desire and value. The tiger’s tail finds resonance across the trunk as it drapes over contours. “Also, throughout the artwork, the Nene children appear as part of the narrative, suggesting a future generation who will grow up with an identity that is global, fluid and self-created,” states Raghava. This livery design was born from years of shared conversations — on technology, art and cinema — between the artist and the family.  

Dr Nene’s project Pathfinder is also on the car
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For Dr Nene, this collaboration has been special. He explains how conversations with the artist have translated into elements on the car, “He(Raghava) has Albert Einstein holding a spark plug. He has the boys in their various avatars, and one of my new projects called Pathfinder is featured prominently on the car.” The car also features Dr Nene and his wife, Madhuri Dixit Nene, in spacesuits, with the line, ‘To Infinity and Beyond’. “As a family, it brings us together as a unifying theme, and we race together, so this became our life story in our car,” explains Dr Nene.

For Ferrari, this kind of artist collaboration was a first, and from initial responses, a success. “From Benedetto Vigna, CEO, Ferrari, to everyone we’ve shown this to, they have been blown away by what this brings together. On the track, the car looks magnificent,” says Dr Nene.

(From left) Raghava, Madhuri, and Dr Nene
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For Raghava, creating a livery design on a race car was not the same as creating on canvas or screen. The technical specifications of the machine, the position of various elements had to closely tie in with how the car would look stationary and zipping past others on the track. The art had to encapsulate storytelling. “In India, we have everything that makes us a beautiful collage, so in this design, there’s juxtaposition and harmony of imagination and precision, like an expressive emotional collage,” says the artist.

Expressing how art is an amalgam and echoing Raghava’s sentiments, Dr Nene concludes, “I think art should be equal parts science, motivation, beauty, as well as speed and technology. And this car, kind of, brings it together.”

Published – February 18, 2026 05:03 pm IST