From mere assistant roles to solo performances now, the women magicians in the country have come a long way, breaking yet another male bastion.
In a proof of their growing stature in the field, women magicians from Kerala and different parts of the country and abroad would be exhibiting their skills at the world's first Convention of Women Magicians to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on May 30.
About 150 magicians, including world no.1 woman magician Luna Shimada of the US, have already registered for the convetion titled, 'Maya 2010', organisers said.
The host state Kerala will be represented by 20 participants, including a 12-year-old school student.
Earlier, women magicians could perform only as assistants. However, things have changed now and the fairer sex have started performing on their own, magician Gopinath Muthukad, the brain behind the setting up of a Magic Academy at Thiruvanathapuram, said.
Housewives, working women and students come to the academy, which is organising the convention, to learn magic as a hobby. They do perform, but very few take it up as a profession, he said.
The Academy, which started in 1996,offers various courses for beginners.
Muthukad, who has done several shows in various parts of the country and abroad and has trained Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, said the effort is to bring more women into the field of magic. Women can perform better and are more flexible, he says.
Magician Maneka Sorcar, daughter of P C Sorcar Junior, the monarch of modern magic, had been invited but the academy has not received any response from her so far, Muthukad said.
Former Kerala chief secretary, Lissie Jacob, is learning magic as a hobby and continues to take lessons regularly.
Jacob had performed during the Kerala Magicians meet in February 2008.
Kaized Bhumgara, an airhostess from Mumbai, along with her two daughters Pearl (20) and Zenia (12) would be performing in the convention's competitive section also. Kaized is the former general secretary of Society of Indian Magicians, Mumbai.
There are four categories of competitions -- Stage Magic (Seniors and Juniors), Close up (the magicians will have to perform very close to the audience), Innovative kitchen which has been newly introduced in the magic competition.
In the innovative kitchen magic, the presenter would come dressed as an Indian housewife and would present magic with more household utensils and vegetables than ordinary magic tools.
The participants would also be cooking on stage while performing magic, he said.
Twenty-four-year-old R Indusree from Bangalore, a well known ventriloquist and magician, who has done several stage shows and performed on various Kannada TV channels, says she was drawn to the field of magic as a child and took the field very seriously from the age of 16. 'I feel on the top of the world performing', she said from Bengaluru.
Times have changed now and magic is a field where Women can unhesitatingly walk in, she said.
Indusri said she was taught the nuances of magic by Keshav Jadugar, A K Datt, Uday Jadugar and Prabhu. A very supportive family helped her, she said adding her father accompanies her to various shows.
The smiles of people watching her perform, their questions, have given her the strength to on.
"Magic gives one the power to mesmerise anyone and I was fascinated'. As a child, she thought homeworks could be done magically, she says.
Her triple 'dummy act' in which she performs ventriloquism with three different dolls has been well received. Indusri said she would be competing also in the Convention.
Jayam 'Jammu' from Coimbatore in her 50s would be performing a 'shadow play'.
Geeta from Thiruvananthapuram, who is a school teacher, got interested in magic and took lessons from the academy. She would be performing and competing in one of the categories.
Twelve-year-old Sanjusha, an Class VIII student from Vatakara, who has won several prizes for performing magic recently, took interest in magic since the past three years.
She said she was being tutored by a magician and has participated in various stage shows and competitions.
She won the second prize in All India magic competitions in Junior competitions held last week at Jagtial in Kareemnagar District of Andhra Pradesh.
The young magician said she was thrilled to be part of the convention and said she had some special tricks up her sleeve.
