This Is Beyond Science — Rajinikanth at conference table with green banker lamps, gesturing with hands pressed together

This Is Beyond Science

2018image macroclassic

Published October 3, 2026

This Is Beyond Science is a reaction image macro pulled from the September 2018 trailer for the Bollywood sci-fi film 2.0, in which Dr. Vaseegaran (played by Rajinikanth) declares a situation lies past the limits of science. The screencap jumped from Indian Twitter to global meme feeds within weeks, becoming the go-to caption for any baffling, inexplicable moment online.

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Overview

This Is Beyond Science works as a straight-faced reaction macro: a serious scientist, bathed in blue laboratory light, telling you with full conviction that whatever you just witnessed cannot be explained by rational means3. The humor comes from how absurdly low the stakes usually are in the captions people pair with it, from mundane life glitches to pop-culture nonsense1.

The format uses a clean screencap of Rajinikanth as Dr. Vaseegaran, usually with the subtitle still burned in or re-added as top text. Users slot in a scenario above the quote, letting Vaseegaran's gravitas sell the punchline2. Indian Twitter accounts seeded the earliest wave, and the macro picked up steam in English-language meme circles once it reached Reddit in October 20184.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (trailer source) / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2018

The source clip comes from the first trailer for the Tamil-language sci-fi film 2.0, directed by S. Shankar and starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. The trailer premiered on YouTube on September 12, 20185. In the scene, Dr. Vaseegaran urges colleagues to reactivate the android Chitti, insisting the crisis they face lies beyond science3.

The line, delivered with Rajinikanth's trademark seriousness, drew immediate attention from Indian social media users who began screencapping the moment the same day the trailer dropped3.

How It Spread

Jokes using the quote took off on Indian Twitter within 24 hours. On September 13, 2018, user @EducatedMoron posted the screencap captioned 'One line to win any argument against an atheist,' which pulled in a modest early engagement1. Two days later, @divyaspandana used the macro to mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pushing it toward the thousands of likes range2.

The meme crossed into institutional territory on September 17, 2018, when the official Mumbai Police Twitter account posted its own version, pulling over 1,200 retweets and 4,300 likes6. That cosign from a government handle helped cement the macro as a mainstream Indian internet joke rather than a niche film reference3.

The format broke containment in October 2018. On October 9, Redditor Utrkar22 posted a version on r/dankmemes referencing Fortnite streamer Ninja, which racked up more than 14,100 upvotes and introduced the macro to Western meme audiences4. Follow-up posts spread across other subreddits and Instagram pages in the following weeks3.

Timeline

2018-09-12

The first trailer for the Bollywood film 2.0 premieres on YouTube, featuring Rajinikanth's 'beyond science' line[5].

2018-09-13

Twitter user @EducatedMoron posts the earliest known image macro using the screencap[1].

2018-09-15

@divyaspandana posts a political macro targeting PM Narendra Modi, pushing the format into wider Indian Twitter circulation[2].

2018-09-17

The Mumbai Police official Twitter account posts the macro, pulling thousands of retweets and likes[6].

2018-10-09

Redditor Utrkar22 posts a Fortnite/Ninja version on r/dankmemes that gains 14,100+ upvotes, bringing the macro to Western audiences[4].

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