Protul Chandra Sorcar, the Indian magician who shot to international fame, mesmerised audiences all over the world with his shows in 1950s and 1960s.
Born on February 23, 1913 in Ashekpur Village of Bengal (now Bangladesh), Sorcar was the sixth generation of his family to continue Magic. Sorkar excelled in maths but his real calling was magic. He always wanted to carry on the ancient art of Indian illusions.
His popularity as a magician was limited to Bengal. He became famous in the mid-1930s, when he performed shows in Kolkata. To widen his fame, he promoted himself as ‘The World’s Greatest Magician’.
In 1950, he accepted an invitation to perform at the combined convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians in Chicago.
Today, Sorcar is best remembered for his show Indrajal – The Magic of water. It was a show with endless stream of water flown from a vessel. He took his show to Japan, Chicago, Paris and several other countries in the 1950s and 60s. Among other routines, he performed a Floating Lady routine featuring aerial suspension in 1964. With more personnel, more variety, and more equipment than anyone else touring at the time, he redefined what Western audiences expected from an Indian magician.
The turning point in Mr Sorcar’s career was undoubtedly his sensational appearance on the Panorama programme. Although television was still in its infancy, he was astute enough to exploit its potential. No other magician had used the medium so successfully.
Sorcar died on January 6, 1971 right after his performance in Japan. In December 1970, ignoring the advice of his doctor who warned him he was not well enough to travel, Mr Sorcar flew to Japan where he performed his last performance. He performed his Indrajal show in the city of Shibetsu on the island of Hokkaido. As he left the stage, he suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away.
On February 2010, in Kolkata, The Department of Posts released a Rs 5 stamp in honour of P C Sorcar
