KOCHI: As he performed magic tricks before his father as a child, magician Gopinath Muthukad’s dad once questioned him about the world’s greatest magic. The young Gopi mentioned a few majestic acts he’d seen or read about. “None. Love is the most wondrous magical act the world has seen,” responded the father. It is this thought that gave wings to ‘Magic Planet’ and ‘Different Arts Centre’ for differently-abled children in Thiruvananthapuram.
As Muthukad celebrates 45 years in magic by releasing ‘Ormakalude Manthrika Sparsham’, a docu-fiction based on his book, he pays homage to professor Vazhakunnam Namboodiri also known as the ‘Father of magic in Kerala’, whose tales on magic enthralled him as a child. “I was awed by the stories surrounding Vazhakunnam and his magic tricks. As I was a child, my imagination was on the cusp of being developed. As a result, I would place myself in Vazhakunnam’s shoes and imagine what it felt like to turn stones into chocolates or make a cane disappear from a teacher’s hand. Later, I realised magic was solely science. A combination of physics, chemistry and maths,” Muthukad reminisces.
The docu-fiction ‘Gopinath Muthukad: 45 years of magic’, directed by Prajeesh Prem, delved into Muthukad’s perpetual struggles; from being born into poverty to developing inquisitiveness towards magic, his struggle in the field and his quest to perform across Kerala along with the accolades received.
“I didn’t become a magician overnight. I roamed about, slept on railway platforms and at bus stands without food, all in search of shows. In certain vulnerable situations, I become two people. Gopi and Muthukad. The former tells the latter that perhaps he should have listened to his dad, become a lawyer and enjoyed the comforts of home. But, the latter reminds him of his desire for magic. Eventually, Muthukad won,” he says.
For a cause
Muthukad is known for enveloping social messages in magic tricks. It started with Kerala’s literacy mission in the 1990s towards a 100 per cent literate state. This invoked a special sense of commitment towards the society in Muthukad. Since then, he has used magic to address several socially-relevant issues.
“I realised that magic had no language and a deep-seated impact. Awareness is more effectively spread through entertainment. The mind easily grasps knowledge when it has already been struck by wonder first,” Muthukad explains.
At a time when technology is used to showcase magic, Muthukad says genuine skill, ie, the use of hands, will never cease to wonder. He explains how his resoluteness paved the way for success: “One requires a passion for their work. I gave my 100 per cent to magic; never applied for other jobs, nor wrote other tests. I was born as a magician, will live and die as one.”