Role reversal: Indian magicians aping Americans

Famous American magician Franz Harary, who once made Taj Mahal disappear and had taken part in Michael Jackson’s Victory Tour, is nowadays busy entertaining the fashionable Delhi suburb of Gurgaon where inhabit the most powerful among the corporates and political elites of the national Capital. His shows in Kingdom of Dreams, a local entertainment park are attracting huge crowd and running houseful. Harary’s ‘Mega Magic’ at the stage of Nautanki Mahal, a big and well- equipped auditorium of Kingdom of Dreams gives a feel of 21st century high-tech magic. Is PC Sorcars’ low budget Indian magic is giving way to big budget, high-tech American magic drama?

Harary hints at the upcoming trend but with caution, “The great Indian magic needs to be showcased.”  Fascinated by the Indian magic and roadside tricks, he fondly recalls his interactions with those roadside magicians who practice popular magic at a very low cost and cater to the entertainment needs of the local people. “India gave birth to magic hundreds of years ago. That magic travelled to Europe and America. Many icons in the Western magic are of Indian origin. But Indian magic is in statis. Instead of developing their own techniques Indian magicians are copying American magic. They should not emulate American Magic. The great Indian magic needs to go to its roots.” He recounts how young charmers living in slums amuse him and they pursue “real” magic. He tells stories of his closer contact with slum magicians whom he encountered in India’s Magic Star show on a TV channel hosted by Jackie Shroff.

Is his encounter with the Indian Magic sterile one? By no means, he says !  It is giving rise to a new brand of magic on Indian stage which, in all likelihood, may change the magic scene of India with its  insurmountable challenges thrown before the Indian charmers,  who lack resources to compete with such high-tech and costly shows. The emerging middle class may decide to go for the latter.  Obviously, the American illusionist is overwhelmed by the response. “In India, people have a sense of wonder.  It is wonderful to be with them. They enjoy every bit of an excitement. This is wonderful.  Americans never express it that way. “ 

Harary is in Gurgaon for two months, and has tied up with a local business partner--the Franz Harary Productions India will be looking after his shows in India. 

A global career

The 48-year- old illusionist, who has been practising magic from the age of 13, is a new genre magician who does not stick to traditional norms on the stage. He is not an aloof and withdrawn magician with a mysterious or commanding look; he interacts with them like stage artistes and behaves like a communicator. Here, magic does not remain a matter of surprise only, but comes to us as a entertaining mix of music, stage performance and small-time comedies. The format is best suited for television shows, and that is why Harary is an extremely popular figure on American small screen.   He has hosted ‘Masters of Illusion’ on PAX and coached American’s Best Dances Crew.  
He has studied music at Michigan University but ended up an illusionist.

His career was actually launched in 1984 when he designed illusions for the Victory Tour of Michael Jackson.  Thereafter he never looked back. Harary has worked with celebrities like Janet Jackson, Alice Cooper, Bobby Brown, MC Hammer, Tina Turner, Earth, Wind and Fire and more. No wonder, his shows in China, India or in other parts of Old and New world are heralding a change in the magic world.  It does not seem to be an accident that his rise coincides with the globalisation and liberalisation of traditional economies.

Aggressive marketing, incorporation of local cultural elements and tying up with the local talents are the aspects, which reflect his marketing strategy. “My shows are specially designed for the country where it is to be presented. I learn form every culture and every region.” Say the Mega magician. 

A  different taste

In his initial moments on the stage, he hardly looks different from other magicians in making a girl disappear or cutting her into pieces to resurface unhurt.  However, at the end he emerges a totally different magician both in style and content. When the show is over you will have a different feeling-- feeling of witnessing an adventure trip akin to some science fantasy. With his high-tech shows which blend reality and fantasy so effectively that the boundary between two simply vanishes.  That is the reason he projects himself as an illusionist. “I use optics to make illusions. It requires high technology. That is the reason my crew is very big. About 250 people are there.” It includes dancers, musician, engineers and designers.

Hence, Harary’s claim of changing the definition of magic has some truth. His magic is deeply embedded in the traditions of magic for its use of mannerism and cross-cultural fantasies, which revolves around the desire of acquiring supernatural power to beat fire, water and space, and the desire to beat death, Yet, Harary is quite different. He takes magic much beyond the realm of what ancient tribal heads were doing under the spell of supernatural powers or magicians of our time have been doing with the help of tricks.
Sociologists have long been putting magic in contrast to science. They draw a line between science and magic, the real versus unreal, and reasoning versus belief in supernatural powers.

Harary is changing this perception. For him, magic becomes a co-traveller of science, and at times marches ahead of science to provide dreams, which in turn fuel the human desire to explore. Science makes these dreams real, he says.  

 He articulates this convergence in his famous poster on science, “I believe in magic.  Magic by definition is anything outside the laws of science. As science progresses, magic’s evolution must remain just ahead of it. In a sense, surfing the wave of technology. Scientific discovery depends on mankind’s ability to dream. Magic rekindles that childlike ability, linked together in a perpetual dance. Magic and science are forever advancing one another; each one driving the other forward at the speed of wonder.”