Sirohi's Javed Khan wins India's Got Talent Season 8

A few days ago, Sirohi’s Javed Khan was just another IT professional, working in Mumbai. But his immense passion for magic made the Rajasthan-born, a winner of the eighth season of the reality show, India’s Got Talent. Little did he know that playing with cards, which his parents and people of his village objected to, will help him achieve this feat.

I hope people’s perception towards magic, especially in my village, changes’
“Mera jadoo chal gaya?”, ask the 27-year-old magician with a smile. Khan who is a self-taught magician still can’t believe that he has won and says, “Main raat bhar so nahi paya hun, aur mujhe yakeen hi nahi ho raha hai ki main show ka winner hun. It was only a few days ago that I was performing small gigs while hiding away from people but today, everyone has accepted my art form.”

Javed hails from a small village, Vasda in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan and has been practicing magic for the past four and a half years. When we quipped him about how he transformed himself into a skillful magician, he replies, “I haven’t taken any professional training and learnt everything through the internet. I began by learning a few tricks online and then started creating my own acts, which we call –haath ki safai.”He adds, “I always try to involve my audience in all my act which makes me a bit different from other magicians.”

Khan won a car and a cash prize of Rs 25 lakhs and has already made plans about how he is going to use the rest of the money. He says, “My parents have lived in a chawl, their entire life and now, I want to buy them a small house. My father is a rickshaw driver who struggled throughout his life so I could have a comfortable life. Though he was never happy with me when I played cards, he is happy that I won the show. Many individuals in our country still don’t know a lot about magic and associate it with tantramantra. But now, I have a platform to clear these misconceptions and I think people will slowly start accepting it as an art form.”

Khan also wishes to visit his extended family in Rajasthan who used to think that playing card tricks was equivalent to gambling. He says, “Generally, magicians are looked down upon in our country. As I belong to a small village, things were much more difficult. Everyone thought that playing tricks with cards was nothing but gambling. With this win, I hope people’s perception, especially in my village, would change. I want to show everyone that my art is not something that brings shame but something that has given me name and fame.”