New Delhi, February 22: On April 9, 1956, millions of British viewers tuned in to the BBC’s popular live television program ‘Panorama.’ Suddenly, an Indian man appeared on screen, adorned in royal attire, a dazzling turban, and a mysterious glimmer in his eyes.
He mesmerized his 17-year-old female assistant, laying her on a table, while she held a menacing, motorized electric saw. As the saw roared to life, its terrifying sound echoed in the studio. The magician brought the saw closer to the girl’s abdomen. Just as it neared her spine, the television screen abruptly went black. The live broadcast was cut.
Viewers were left horrified, believing a foreigner had brutally murdered a girl on live TV. BBC’s phone lines were flooded with calls. The next day’s headlines screamed, “Girl Sawed in Half on TV!” However, it was not a murder; it was the genius’s greatest PR strategy. The man who outsmarted the world’s largest news network was none other than India’s legendary magician, P.C. Sorcar.
This single event catapulted him to fame as the world’s greatest showman. Born on February 23, 1913, in Ashokpur village of undivided Bengal (now Bangladesh), Pratul Chandra Sorcar had magic flowing through his veins. His family had a legacy of mysticism and magic spanning seven generations. Sorcar himself claimed, “When I sleep, I breathe magic. When I wake, I live magic.”
However, Sorcar was no ordinary street magician. He was a brilliant student who graduated with honors in mathematics in 1933. This mathematical prowess formed the backbone of his magic. His performances were not mere superstition; they were a precise science of geometry, optics, and human psychology. Under the guidance of the renowned guru Ganapati Chakraborty, he elevated his tricks to an epic level, branding it as ‘Indrajal.’
During that era, the Western world viewed Indians with disdain. To them, Indian magic meant snake charmers in tattered clothes or starving ascetics. P.C. Sorcar changed this colonial mindset.
When he performed on foreign stages (London, Paris, Chicago), he appeared like a ‘Maharaja.’ Dressed in a silk sherwani, adorned with heavy jewelry and a gem-studded turban, he left Western audiences in awe.
An often-overlooked chapter of Sorcar’s life is his encounter with the great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the streets of Kolkata. Bose’s fervent nationalism deeply inspired Sorcar.
The profession of a ‘traveling magician’ served as an excellent disguise for any intelligence agent. Sorcar transported secret documents and intelligence messages for Bose right under the noses of the British police, hidden within his large boxes and trunks.
On Bose’s advice, he traveled to Japan in 1932, where he collaborated with Rasbihari Bose. Every penny he earned from his magic shows there was donated to the Indian independence movement.
His magical feats left even the greatest scientists sweating. His famous trick, ‘Water of India,’ featured a jug from which water never ceased to flow, brilliantly blending fluid mechanics with the philosophy of ‘infinity.’
His ‘X-ray vision’ act was even more chilling. Despite layers of flour, sponge, and bandages over his eyes, he could read and write difficult languages like Japanese and Chinese on a blackboard. Western media dubbed him ‘The Man with the X-ray Eyes.’
Sorcar believed that just as Indian dramaturgy encompasses emotions, magic too has ’13 rasas’ (flavors). He viewed magic not merely as sleight of hand but as a physical manifestation of Hindu philosophy’s ‘Maya.’
Sorcar dreamed of elevating magic from a roadside spectacle to an academic discipline, akin to fine arts and sciences. To this end, he founded the ‘All India Magic Circle’ in 1954. He authored over 22 books on hypnosis and mysticism in Bengali, Hindi, and English, which remain significant for magicians today.
P.C. Sorcar passed away on January 6, 1971.
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