Gopinath Muthukad: It’s a kind a of magic

But this is the world-famous magician who successfully predicted the headlines of 10 newspapers in nine Indian cities three days in advance last year. Too late, I’d already sent him an SMS – I’d just have to test his incredible skills face-to-face over lunch in Karama, while he was relaxing after performing in Sharjah the night before.

Dressed in a soft blue shirt and jeans, Gopinath, 50, with a ’tash to match mine, is easily recognisable, although there’s no sign of a top hat from which to pull a rabbit.

“Let’s talk over food. A good meal is always the best ice breaker,” says the illusionist who bagged the Merlin Award, considered the Oscar of magic, in 2011. Past winners include David Copperfield and Harry Blackstone.

As we wait for the food to arrive, he fishes out three coins from his pocket and places them on the table. Then he takes two of them, puts them in his left palm and closes it.

“How many coins are there in my palm now?” he asks.

“Two,” I answer.

“OK, the third I’ll keep in my pocket,” he says, and does so. He then opens his left palm and amazingly all three coins are in it.

“Wow,” I say, grinning.

Two of the waiters who have been watching the impromptu magic show stare wide-eyed, impressed.

Making coins disappear is surely small change for a man who once made an elephant vanish on stage. “That was during a show in Kerala a decade ago,” he says. “But one of my most popular acts was when I made a local government minister vanish. There were at least a few people in the audience who were clapping and cheering wildly.”

Magic has been Gopinath’s passion since he was a child. “I grew up in Kavalamukkatta, a village in Nilambur in the southern Indian state of Kerala. My father Kunjunni Nair was a farmer and a fantastic raconteur. He’d tell me bedtime stories about legendary local magician Vazakunnam Namboodiri and the tricks he performed.”

Constantly looking for ways to learn magic, Gopinath was seven when he came across a street magician performing in his village. “It was fascinating to see him convert a 10 rupee note into a 100 rupee one or create a bouquet of flowers from thin air, so after the show I begged him to teach me a few tricks,” he says. “And the man immediately agreed – if I paid him 25 rupees.

“As I didn’t have any pocket money, I decided to do something I still regret – take some money from my father’s wallet without telling him. It was wrong but I was a kid and I was desperate to learn magic...”

Gopinath handed over the notes but this time it was the magician who disappeared with his money.

“Of course, I got a sound thrashing for stealing,” he says.

This didn’t quash his dreams of becoming a magician, however. “I decided to read up as much as I could on magic and learn from whoever was willing to teach me,” he says.

A few years later, aged 10, Gopinath debuted at a village fair. His first show was a complete flop.

So upset was Gopinath that he went home sobbing. “But my father was very kind and consoled me, telling me failure was a stepping stone to success. ‘Practise more and you’ll be able to perform better’, he said. I began practising night and day and after perfecting my acts returned to the stage a few months later.”

“The more I read about Houdini, the more I wanted to become a famous illusionist and magician like him,” he says.

“My father tried hard to make me change my mind and get a proper job but I didn’t relent. I was optimistic that one day I would make it big.”

The budding magician got his first major break when, at the age of 22, he performed at a function attended by several state dignitaries in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram.

“It was a state affair and there was a crowd of around 3,000 people. I put on a show performing some extremely difficult acts including an underwater escape trick.”

This trick involved being put in a straitjacket, handcuffed and padlocked and dropped into a tank filled with water. He had to open the six locks, undo the straitjacket and emerge from the water – all the while holding his breath – in about a minute.

“I received a standing ovation at the end,” he says. He hasn’t looked back since.

So is there an element of danger in some acts? “Oh yes,” he says. “Some, like the fire-escape act and underwater escape act, have a 50 per cent chance of death or serious disability for the performer, which is why I make it a point to tell spectators, particularly children, never ever to attempt such things.”

“I’d studied many books on it and practised the act several times before attempting it but there is always the chance of error.”

On the scheduled day, with emergency services on standby, Gopinath was handcuffed, bound in chains with around half a dozen locks and lowered using a crane into a pile of hay, which was doused with petrol and set alight.

Even as spectators watched spellbound, Gopinath emerged unshackled from the burning pyre in less than 60 seconds.

“It was not an easy one but I’d practised well and was sure I could do it,’’ he says. He refuses to divulge secrets on how he did it while reiterating “nobody should ever try it”.

But the act that nearly cost him his life was the one he performed in Kozhikode, Kerala, in 2001.

“It’s called the water torture escape act where I am handcuffed and bound in chains, then placed in a plastic box and dropped into a glass tank filled with water. Electricity is then passed into the water. I have just 60 seconds to uncuff myself, emerge from the box and swim to safety because at exactly the 60th second, a large metal spear weighing around 30kg that is hanging above the box would drop down and crush me. It was a trick that I developed.

“But on that day, the assistant got distracted and failed to turn off the power supply. So there I was, having uncuffed myself ready to emerge from the safety of the plastic box but unable to because the blue bulb had not come on, which meant I would be electrocuted if I emerged from the box.

“Seconds ticked by and the bulb was still off, which meant there was electricity in the water; 45 seconds elapsed, then 50 then 55. I had just five seconds before the spear would drop down and impale me. At that point another assistant luckily noticed the power was still on. He rushed and snapped the cord and in three seconds I opened the box and swam out before the spear came crashing down.

“That was the day I truly came face to face with death and believe me, it’s not a pleasant feeling.”

So did he consider quitting magic after that?

“No never,” he says. “Magic is in my blood, it’s a part of me.”

It’s clear that magic is his passion because he even named his son Vismay (which means wonder or surprise in Malayalam). “I live and breathe magic,” he says. “In fact, there is not a single day when I do not think of tricks or new ideas for my shows.”

Unlike many performers who only entertain, Gopinath believes in using magic as a vehicle to educate people as well. To that end, he utilises magic tricks to raise awareness of issues such as illiteracy, hygiene, protecting the girl child, fighting drug and tobacco use and other such issues.

“It’s amazing how people seem to grasp a social message better when it’s told to them through magic,” he says.

Gopinath is also involved in several charity initiatives.

To promote the art of magic and to ensure the art of street magic in India does not die out, in 1996 Gopinath set up a magic academy where street magicians are given venues to perform.

“It will also house Magic Planet, a one-of-a-kind edutainment centre that will offer children the opportunity to learn science and technology through the medium of magic,” says Gopinath.

“The idea of setting this up came up when I had a talk with David Copperfield, one of the world’s most renowned magicians. It is my dream project. I want to bring magic into everyone’s life. He was all praise when I mentioned I was doing this to bring magic closer to children and help them learn through magic.”

To celebrate 25 exciting years of his association with magic, the magician also produced a CD documenting the secrets of 15 rare magical acts, which he buried in a time capsule in Kerala to be opened a century later.

Would he want Vismay to follow his footsteps? “I would not force him to, but yes, at the moment, like all kids, he is very interested in magic.”

As Gopinath prepares to tuck into his dessert, I ask him how he manages to look and act so young. He laughs. “You can put it down to magic,” he says. “Also, I’ve never smoked or had liquor in my life. And except when I am on stage performing, I never lie.”

As a waiter comes to clear the table, Gopinath beckons him closer.

“Here’s a little trick,” he says. He takes a white tissue from the box on the table and places it in his palm then squeezes it. When he opens his palm, instead of the tissue there is a piece of red cloth. “Like that?” he asks us. Even as we are looking on, he rubs the piece of red silk and magically it becomes a white handkerchief.

“I’m actually still hungry,” he says and pops the handkerchief in his mouth. He then opens his mouth and he has seemingly swallowed it.

“That’s magic,” he laughs.