A clean sleight of a legacy

If the sleight of hand, card magic or the occasional mentalism shrouded with illusion is your thing, meet the 20-year-old who has all of it up his sleeve – quite literally! Taking after the rich legacy of his magician father, Raj Muthaiah, Nikhil Raj has left audiences baffled in over 600 shows. Ahead of his magic tour Mysticity on November 27 at NUMA Bengaluru, we speak to the Bengaluru boy about what he thinks makes his tricks click.

 “To be very honest, magic didn’t really interest me in the beginning. It was ironical because my father happens to be an internationally renowned magician. Being backstage bored me,” Nikhil tells us. With his love for modelling, theatre and films, he would have in fact loved to be in the performing arts. It was only when he began attending international magic conventions and conferences, interacting with other famed magicians and watching tricks that he never thought possible, did he notice the spark set in. That however, was eight years ago. With constant criticism and support from his father and David Copperfield’s inspiring spectacles, Nikhil set down a mystical path of illusions, mentalism and conjuring. “My upcoming show will be filled with visual artistry, wacky comedy and gripping mental magic. At this show, magic is deception and you are the target of deception!” he says, letting us in on what to expect.   

Naturally, Nikhil draws a little bit of attention to himself but he confesses to not minding it. “What’s even better is when I am able to channel this attention into something productive, I feel humbled,” he says, recollecting how he performed free magic shows to raise funds for Nepal’s earthquake victims. A master’s student specialising in human resources for social work from Christ University, Nikhil doesn’t need reminding where his heart should be. “On a day-to-day basis, all I need is a favourable circumstance. For instance, if I find the less fortunate by the roadside, I conjure a coin out of nowhere, not to pay them, but to make them smile and to encourage them to live a dignified life. I use the art of magic to convey messages on socially relevant themes like health, aids awareness, women empowerment, importance of education or drugs,” he says, realising that magic is impactful to drive the point home.