Book Review | P C Sorcar: The Maharaja of Magic

Book: P C Sorcar: The Maharaja of Magic
Author: PC Sorcar (Jr)
Publisher: Niyogi
Pages: 285
Price: 1995

This book is a son's tribute to his father, his namesake, and also his teacher. For readers, who've probably never heard of PC Sorcar (1913-1971) – except for wondering while watching PC Sorcar Jr's amazing shows – this book will reveal an extraordinary figure, a pioneer and maverick genius who left a mark on his field, not just in India, but all the world.

Protul Sorcar – the last name's spelling is a clever play on 'sorcerer' – was born in a village near Dhaka into a family of distinguished hereditary magicians, but magic itself had gone into decline, becoming associated with sorcery, or the 'dark arts'. It is PC Sorcar that this book credits with restoring the popularity and prestige of Indian magic by going back to ancient Sanskrit treatises on the subject, on the one hand, and the other, Sorcar's overly dramatic stage shows all over the world, in which he presented seemingly impossible acts such as 'sawing the lady', 'cutting the tongue', 'waters of India', etc.

This is no academic biography, it's very hyperbolic and offers an intimate, partial view. Where it scores is in telling stories that only an insider can have access to.

This lovely one, for instance, occurs right at the beginning of the book: In April 1956, Sorcar got the last 15 minutes of an hour-long prime time evening programme on BBC to showcase his magic. He decided to do his famous cut-a-lady-into-two act. Except that when he finished, the woman wouldn't awaken. The programme ended, but she hadn't opened her eyes. Had something gone wrong? Was she dead? The British public went hysterical, jamming the BBC phone lines for hours. The next day, the incident made newspaper headlines – Sorcar's assistant was fine, it had all been part of the act, a sleight of hand that the brown-skinned magician from India had pulled on the unsuspecting British!