I always ensured my magic appealed to people from all age groups : Tejas Malode

While there have been quite a few magic shows on the small screen, India’s Magic Star stood apart. It is perhaps one of the first magic shows on Indian television for a wide spectrum of audience. Definitely the first reality show on magic, the show aimed to find out the hidden magical talent in the country. So you had people showing off stage magic, street magic, illusions etc. While the talent was great, it was Mumbai’s Tejas Malode, who took away the honours. Tejas spoke to TellyChakkar.com about his dreams and passion for magic. Congratulations on winning the competition! Tell us something about your background. Thanks. I am a Mumbaikar and was brought up in Dombivli. I live with my parents and have one younger brother and sister. I have studied in Dombivli and completed my graduation in banking and insurance. How and when did you realize your hidden passion for magic? Did you undergo any formal training? I am self-trained, have never undergone any formal training whatsoever. It all started when I was in Class 4. There was this magic show being telecast on Discovery Channel and I immediately got hooked to it. My father was a television mechanic at that time and we had a video recorder at home. I had recorded that show and I have lost count of how many times I have watched it. That show changed my life. After watching it, I knew what to do in life. I bought books, DVDs and everything else that was available to learn magic. It is the best tool for inspiration I have with me. How did this reality show happen? After I took up magic as a career, I started traveling a lot for shows. I have even gone overseas many times for my shows. Few months back, I had been to Orlando for a tour and it was my day off. I started checking my mail and that is when I saw this mail from a production house. It talked about the show they were planning and asked for registrations. Immediately I called their India office and asked for the details. The person who I spoke to convinced me to participate in the contest. And I was so convinced that I broke my overseas contract and came back to India to participate in this show. This was the first time I was doing a show on television, so there was this additional excitement as well. Looking back, I don’t regret the decision! Share some memorable incidents from the show… (Smiles) In the audition round, there was this act I was supposed to do but somehow it was not going per plan! I was very tense and did not know what to do. I then decided to fall back upon a magic kit I had in my bag. I performed with that and thankfully people were happy and I got through. My act was on pick-pocketing! The entire experience was awesome. Performing in front of Franz Hararre and Jackie Shroff was truly wonderful. Jackie Shroff treated us like his friends and used to chat with me a lot on the sets. He is very humble. Your style of showing magic is quite unique… I always ensured my performances appealed to people from all age groups and then with that in mind, I perform horror magic, dance number magic and also talky magic. So, what next? I am happy people in India know me now. I will have my own audience. I believe there is an opportunity everywhere. You just have to knock on the right door. I have a contract with the channel and hopefully they will use me in their shows. I am also in discussion for a few more shows.