“We have been trying to get the affiliation and are hopeful of getting it this year. Setting up a university is an expensive deal, but getting an affiliation for a course is easier. One day, I hope we will have our own university,” said Sorcar junior.

The two-year course will award its students an MA degree, said Sorcar, adding that students here will learn the classical side of magic. “We will be extremely selective about the people we take in the course. They will have to undergo a number of tests before being absorbed. Only eight students with excellent reflexes and high IQ will be taken in,” he said.

While age will not be a criteria, he added, only graduates would be eligible for the course. “We want qualified people. We will even absorb mid-career level people who want to learn the art,” he said.

For the two-year course, a lot more than mere card tricks and vanishing acts would be taught. The course will have a number of programmes like acting, oration, physical fitness and psychology, said Sorcar, adding that he has already spoken to a number of experts to teach his course. “We have spoken to a number of people. Dweepesh Nath, a professor of psychology at Calcutta University, has confirmed that he will join us post retirement,” said Sorcar.

Magic or not, Sorcar promises the course will help in ‘character building’. He is excited about the inclusion of hypnotism in the syllabus.