P. C. Sorcar Jr. (formal name Prodip Chandra Sorcar; born 31 July 1946
) is an Indian magician based in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, India. He is the second son of Indian magician
P. C. Sorcar
Protul Chandra Sorcar (23 February 19136 January 1971) was an Indian magician. He was an internationally active magician throughout the 1950s and 1960s, performing his ''Indrajal'' show before live audiences and on television. Sorcar died of a ...
. He is also the recipient of
Merlin Award
The International Magicians Society (IMS) is a magic (illusion), magic society created by Tony Hassini to "help promote and preserve the art of magic and provide a format where magicians could share their secrets and ideas." The society gives its o ...
in Magic.
He holds a doctorate degree in applied
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
from the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
,
[
] and holds the record of being the highest individual foreign exchange earner in entertainment.
Sorcar contested
2014 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
from
Barasat (Lok Sabha constituency) as
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
candidate and lost to
Dr. Kakali Ghosh Dastidar of
Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...
.
Family
His elder brother
Prafulla is an
Electrical Engineer
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
and younger brother Provas is a commercial pilot. He lost his father,
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
award-winner Protul Chandra Sorcar (
P.C. Sorcar
Protul Chandra Sorcar (23 February 19136 January 1971) was an Indian magician. He was an internationally active magician throughout the 1950s and 1960s, performing his ''Indrajal'' show before live audiences and on television. Sorcar died of a ...
Sr.) at the age of 58 due to a massive heart attack in Japan.
Sorcar married Jayashree, daughter of Sri Aroon Kumar Ghosh and Smt. Nilima Devi on 22 May 1972. The couple have three daughters,
Maneka,
Moubani and
Mumtaz. Maneka is also a magician. Moubani is a model and Mumtaz is a
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
film actress.
His mother Basanti died on 26 December 2009 while he was performing the magic show in
Barasat
Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) ...
.
Indrajal
Sorcar's troupe, Indrajal, uses 48 tons of equipment, 75 artists, dozens of settings, 12 jadoo girls, psychedelic laser lighting systems, more than 400 brocade dresses, original music by his own orchestra and more than 50 tricks of illusion.
His earliest stage experience involved him assisting his father at Kolkata's New Empire in 1959. His first solo stage performance was held at Siliguri Railway Institute Hall in 1963.
Some of his most famous illusions that continue from his father's legend, include: X-Ray Eyes, where he solves mathematical equations, reads Shakespeare lines and even sketches on the spot, blindfolded. Water of India, where a magic jug keeps replenishing itself endlessly and by the end of the show, there's an entire bucket of water filled through that little jug. A dangerous trick where Sorcar Jr himself gets into a box and gets cut in half, assisted by his wife Jayashree. Upon the cut, they even remove any drapes or cover on the middle body, revealing a complete cut between his upper body and lower body.
Sorcar's signature trick is the use of light refraction to convey the impression that large scale objects have vanished. Past performances have included the "disappearance" of the
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
and the
Indore – Amritsar Express
Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...
.
[Gupta, Subhrangshu]
Into the magic world of P.C. Sorcar
''The Tribune'', 15 April 2001.
On 8 November 2000, Sorcar "vanished" the Taj Mahal for two minutes in Kachhpura in
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
. He also made the
Victoria Memorial disappear on the 300th anniversary of Calcutta, and vanished a train full of passengers before a large crowd at
Bardhaman Junction
Bardhaman Junction Railway Station (Station code: BWN) is a railway junction station on the Howrah–Delhi main line and is located in Purba Bardhaman District in the Indian state of West Bengal. EMU services from along Howrah–Bardhaman mai ...
, West Bengal, India in 1992.
Sorcar Jr has cycled at high speed blindfolded from Trafalgar square in London and created a record.
''Gili Gili Ge'' (1989)
''Gili Gili Ge'' is a 1989 children's movie directed by Iswar Chakraborty and produced by Indrajaal Production. This classic
Bengali movie stars P.C. Sorcar Jr. in a double role. Both the protagonist and the antagonist characters are enacted by him.
Utpal Dutt,
Santosh Dutta
Santosh Dutta (Bengali: সন্তোষ দত্ত; 2 December 1925 – 5 March 1988) was a Bengali actor, best known for playing the character of Jatayu in Satyajit Ray's Feluda movie series ''Sonar Kella'' and '' Joi Baba Felunath''.
Ear ...
,
Sreela Majumdar also acted in the movie. The charismatic screen presence of P.C. Sorcar Jr. and the spectacular visual effects of the movie is a favorite among children and elders.
References
External links
Official SiteIndian Magicians Web SiteOnline Data Bank on Indian magicians*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorcar, P. C. Jr.
Indian magicians
Bengali people
Asutosh College alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
Living people
1946 births
Politicians from Kolkata
Critics of Sathya Sai Baba
National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal
P.C. Jr.
People from Tangail District