PC Sorcar Jr’s incredible magic tricks - collectively labelled Indrajaal - aren’t mere abracadabra. A deep undercurrent of philosophy props up his shows. The master illusionist spoke to KS Narayanan during a month-long performance tour of Delhi. Photos by Mukunda De
Master illusionist and India's greatest living magician Pradip Chandra Sorcar Jr and his daughter, Maneka, were in the National Capital for an entire month in May for a series of sold out shows staged to celebrate a hundred years of ‘Indrajaal’, the ‘web of magic’ that was initiated by his father, the legendary Praful Chandra Sorcar.
Every single day during the course of the month, the father and daughter duo carried on the family tradition and performed enthralling tricks, such as the famed “Water of India”, that were once an integral part of his father’s repertoire. A running gag during his show, it involves Sorcar Jr pouring water out of a jug that never empties. In Delhi, the US-educated Maneka, the ninth-generation magician in the family, also successfully tried her hand at the illusion.
As scams tumbled out of the government's cupboard and the scorching heat made life rather difficult for residents of the Capital, the air-conditioned FICCI auditorium, packed with schools children, young magic enthusiasts and the elderly, provided relief as the master and his daughter performed incredible, eye-popping sleights of hand.
The popularity of the Sorcars can be gauged from the fact that this tour went on for an entire month and even at the end of it, there was no let-up in enthusiasm. Every evening the auditorium buzzed with excitement.
Of course, the Sorcars’ vanishing tricks at their Delhi shows were not as edgy and spectacular as they are usually known to be, but they were impressive nonetheless. They are perhaps most celebrated for their vanishing routines. In the past, Sorcar Jr has made the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata “disappear”.
He has also cycled blindfolded through rush-hour traffic in London, Munich, Madrid and Tokyo and has escaped from a sealed iron chest in less than a minute after a helicopter dropped it into the China Sea. He can walk on fire and water and turn a beautiful woman into a deadly python in the blink of an eye. Andf those are only a few of the unbelievable things he can pull off.
But many admirers claim that his most astounding act was making a train full of passengers vanish before the eyes of hundreds of witnesses at the Burdwan railway station in West Bengal on 12 July 1992. Sorcar Jr repeated that act with the Indore-Amritsar Express in November 2000.
How did he do it? “I have only one standard answer to that question, after which I add, ‘Don’t tell anyone,’” he laughs, explaining that the entire universe is actually magic. Night becomes day and day becomes night - isn't that magical?.
Pretty much as he does when he performs magic tricks on the stage, Sorcar Jr has a way with words. In an interview to this writer, the master illusionist explained that magic teaches many lessons to all of us. "Magic is the way to realise the truth and it helps people realise not to be prejudiced. It tells us not to believe what we see but explore the logic behind things. So I would say don’t believe what the minister said. But try to get behind the truth of his words," he said, opening the free-wheeling conversation.
Ask the master magician about ‘wizardy’, and one gets to dwell on the depth of science and technology. He says: “Magic is a forerunner to science. What is magic today is science tomorrow. In simple terms, unexplained science is magic. The moment it is explained it becomes pure science.” He goes on to give the example of key inventions that have changed human life in crucial ways like fire, machines, aeroplanes…
Sorcar Jr also says that magic adds philosophical and cultural subtexts to the tricks that he performs. For instance, the Water of India, an urn, is repeatedly tipped over and the water keeps flowing. On this Sorcar Special, the magician refers to the much-quoted verse from Isha Upanishad: Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate Puurnnashya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate/Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih. (Though there are many commentaries for the verse, one of them is, ”When this Whole is ‘taken out’ of that Whole, the Whole remains”).
On his plans to build Jaadu Nagri, a whole township and university of magic, Sorcar says it is still under process. Though the magician wanted to build Jaadu Nagri in scenic Darjeeling, the plan fell through due to the political conflict in the hills. Sorcar has now shifted it to Tripura.
“There is a hill there that I want to buy with my own money, money that I have earned from my magic shows. I don’t want the support of the government or of any private player; I don’t want any directives or restrictions. If I stop performing, how will I get the funds that I require in order to realise my dream,” he says, adding that a lot more needs to be done before the township can come up.
Without setting any time-frame for his dream project, Sorcar Jr remarks that his motto is simple and time-honoured: do not to ask what the country has done for you, but what you can contribute to make it a better place.
Surrounded by four women who are performers in their own right - his wife Jayshree, a Bharatnatyam dancer and magician; and his three daughters, - Maneka, Mumtaz and Moubani, with his elder daughter Maneka becoming the first woman to break the bastion of magic held by men.
Though happy at the successful entry of Maneka into the sphere of magicians, Sorcar Jr points to the competition that he faces from her. “See, after my father’s death, he was my competitor. Now my daughter is my competitor. People keep comparing the two of us. Kids go to Manenka first to get her autograph and then they say, 'Uncle, we are coming to you' too. He adds: “That makes me happy and sad. Maneka is doing well. But then there is also competition.”
So he stresses that it is not just the tricks that he inherited from his father that are important. Equally important is every single ‘performance’. Otherwise, the audience will lose interest and move on, he warns.
Like Maneka, his other two daughters, Mumtaz and Moubani, are also creating magic on celluloid as they appear in lead role in Bangla movies.
However, the master points out that a magician does not mesmerise his audience. “There is a better word in Hinduism - sammohan, enchantment.
As much as the audience enjoys his magic tricks, Sorcar too finds innumerable magicians in his audience. “I enjoy the audience more than they enjoy my magic. All of them enjoy one PC Sorcar. I enjoy so many of them,” he says with a hearty laugh.
An applied psychologist by training, Sorcar explains that the audience is of two kinds - enlightened and innocent. The latter come and touch my feet. “I don’t like it at all.”
Among the enlightened, the master magician says, there are those that are looking for trick, art, magic and science. “I perform for children of all age groups,” he says, adding that a third category of audience is like 'tube lights' as they take time to react to the magic.
There have been times when Sorcar Jr has felt sorry for himself when people take magic for reality. He narrates how when he visited a grieving neighbour who lost his son and expected Sorcar to bring the deceased back to life. “When I explained to him that it was impossible, he abused me. However, he later apologised to me.” This is tragic magic.
Besides looking for inspiration from his father, Sorcar Sr, the magician also explores the tradition of magic like Banmati of South India, Mayong in Assam and ascetics back home in Bengal.
Master illusionist and India's greatest living magician Pradip Chandra Sorcar Jr and his daughter, Maneka, were in the National Capital for an entire month in May for a series of sold out shows staged to celebrate a hundred years of ‘Indrajaal’, the ‘web of magic’ that was initiated by his father, the legendary Praful Chandra Sorcar.
Every single day during the course of the month, the father and daughter duo carried on the family tradition and performed enthralling tricks, such as the famed “Water of India”, that were once an integral part of his father’s repertoire. A running gag during his show, it involves Sorcar Jr pouring water out of a jug that never empties. In Delhi, the US-educated Maneka, the ninth-generation magician in the family, also successfully tried her hand at the illusion.
As scams tumbled out of the government's cupboard and the scorching heat made life rather difficult for residents of the Capital, the air-conditioned FICCI auditorium, packed with schools children, young magic enthusiasts and the elderly, provided relief as the master and his daughter performed incredible, eye-popping sleights of hand.
The popularity of the Sorcars can be gauged from the fact that this tour went on for an entire month and even at the end of it, there was no let-up in enthusiasm. Every evening the auditorium buzzed with excitement.
Of course, the Sorcars’ vanishing tricks at their Delhi shows were not as edgy and spectacular as they are usually known to be, but they were impressive nonetheless. They are perhaps most celebrated for their vanishing routines. In the past, Sorcar Jr has made the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata “disappear”.
He has also cycled blindfolded through rush-hour traffic in London, Munich, Madrid and Tokyo and has escaped from a sealed iron chest in less than a minute after a helicopter dropped it into the China Sea. He can walk on fire and water and turn a beautiful woman into a deadly python in the blink of an eye. Andf those are only a few of the unbelievable things he can pull off.
But many admirers claim that his most astounding act was making a train full of passengers vanish before the eyes of hundreds of witnesses at the Burdwan railway station in West Bengal on 12 July 1992. Sorcar Jr repeated that act with the Indore-Amritsar Express in November 2000.
How did he do it? “I have only one standard answer to that question, after which I add, ‘Don’t tell anyone,’” he laughs, explaining that the entire universe is actually magic. Night becomes day and day becomes night - isn't that magical?.
Pretty much as he does when he performs magic tricks on the stage, Sorcar Jr has a way with words. In an interview to this writer, the master illusionist explained that magic teaches many lessons to all of us. "Magic is the way to realise the truth and it helps people realise not to be prejudiced. It tells us not to believe what we see but explore the logic behind things. So I would say don’t believe what the minister said. But try to get behind the truth of his words," he said, opening the free-wheeling conversation.
Ask the master magician about ‘wizardy’, and one gets to dwell on the depth of science and technology. He says: “Magic is a forerunner to science. What is magic today is science tomorrow. In simple terms, unexplained science is magic. The moment it is explained it becomes pure science.” He goes on to give the example of key inventions that have changed human life in crucial ways like fire, machines, aeroplanes…
Sorcar Jr also says that magic adds philosophical and cultural subtexts to the tricks that he performs. For instance, the Water of India, an urn, is repeatedly tipped over and the water keeps flowing. On this Sorcar Special, the magician refers to the much-quoted verse from Isha Upanishad: Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate Puurnnashya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate/Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih. (Though there are many commentaries for the verse, one of them is, ”When this Whole is ‘taken out’ of that Whole, the Whole remains”).
On his plans to build Jaadu Nagri, a whole township and university of magic, Sorcar says it is still under process. Though the magician wanted to build Jaadu Nagri in scenic Darjeeling, the plan fell through due to the political conflict in the hills. Sorcar has now shifted it to Tripura.
“There is a hill there that I want to buy with my own money, money that I have earned from my magic shows. I don’t want the support of the government or of any private player; I don’t want any directives or restrictions. If I stop performing, how will I get the funds that I require in order to realise my dream,” he says, adding that a lot more needs to be done before the township can come up.
Without setting any time-frame for his dream project, Sorcar Jr remarks that his motto is simple and time-honoured: do not to ask what the country has done for you, but what you can contribute to make it a better place.
Surrounded by four women who are performers in their own right - his wife Jayshree, a Bharatnatyam dancer and magician; and his three daughters, - Maneka, Mumtaz and Moubani, with his elder daughter Maneka becoming the first woman to break the bastion of magic held by men.
Though happy at the successful entry of Maneka into the sphere of magicians, Sorcar Jr points to the competition that he faces from her. “See, after my father’s death, he was my competitor. Now my daughter is my competitor. People keep comparing the two of us. Kids go to Manenka first to get her autograph and then they say, 'Uncle, we are coming to you' too. He adds: “That makes me happy and sad. Maneka is doing well. But then there is also competition.”
So he stresses that it is not just the tricks that he inherited from his father that are important. Equally important is every single ‘performance’. Otherwise, the audience will lose interest and move on, he warns.
Like Maneka, his other two daughters, Mumtaz and Moubani, are also creating magic on celluloid as they appear in lead role in Bangla movies.
However, the master points out that a magician does not mesmerise his audience. “There is a better word in Hinduism - sammohan, enchantment.
As much as the audience enjoys his magic tricks, Sorcar too finds innumerable magicians in his audience. “I enjoy the audience more than they enjoy my magic. All of them enjoy one PC Sorcar. I enjoy so many of them,” he says with a hearty laugh.
An applied psychologist by training, Sorcar explains that the audience is of two kinds - enlightened and innocent. The latter come and touch my feet. “I don’t like it at all.”
Among the enlightened, the master magician says, there are those that are looking for trick, art, magic and science. “I perform for children of all age groups,” he says, adding that a third category of audience is like 'tube lights' as they take time to react to the magic.
There have been times when Sorcar Jr has felt sorry for himself when people take magic for reality. He narrates how when he visited a grieving neighbour who lost his son and expected Sorcar to bring the deceased back to life. “When I explained to him that it was impossible, he abused me. However, he later apologised to me.” This is tragic magic.
Besides looking for inspiration from his father, Sorcar Sr, the magician also explores the tradition of magic like Banmati of South India, Mayong in Assam and ascetics back home in Bengal.
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