Gopinath Muthukad

The Academy of Magical sciences, popularly known as Magic Academy, was established in the year 1996. It was built under the guidance of Late Malayatoor Ramakrishnan and after it was late Jnanpith O.N.V.Kurup. And now the torch of leadership is handled by acclaimed film director, Shri. Adoor Gopalakrishnan. It was established under the Cultural and Charitable institutions act, for the upliftment and promotion of the magic art, moreover in using the art to fight against all kinds of irrational beliefs, superstitions, violence and other evil practices existing in our society.

Magic Planet situated at KINFRA Film and Video Park, Kazhakuttom, Thiruvananthapuram was built with the objective to provide a permanent rehabilitation hub for street magicians who are the verge of complete wipe out from the main phase our society due lack of platforms to display their rare skills. Moreover it was designed to impart wonders and immense possibilities of magical art to the common public which includes the domestic tourists and foreigners visiting the state. The venture was opened to public in 2014 by Chief Minister of Kerala. The currently the institution is supporting more than 200 more artistes for the daily functioning and their day today needs.

In 2017, Magic Academy with the support of Kerala State Social Security Mission conducted ‘Anuyatra’ campaign to empower the differently abled children and bring them to the mainstream of the society. 23 selected children undergone magic training and formed a magic team named ‘MPower’. Inspired by the highly successful performance of the children, Magic Academy decided to establish a permanent performance platform for them -Mpower centre with the support of UNICEF and Kerala Social Security Mission. This centre trains and develops their talents, while ensuring life skills to make them more self-aware and confident. It is for the first time in the world, a permanent magical performance centre has been opened for the specially abled talents. Today, the centre gives training to specially abled children in a mode that they can become breadwinners for their family. Recently, the Mpower team stepped into INDIA BOOK OF RECORDS for their unique performance.

The success of Mpower paved the path in the formation of a Comprehensive Art Centre at Kazhakkuttom, Thiruvananthapuram for differently abled children to explore their artistic talents and promote the overall development of differently abled community. The centre aims to empower these children by recognizing and sharpening their raw talents through special and appropriate methods. The appreciation from the audience, reaching the centre, increases a sense of confidence and better self-awareness in all participants. The Centre also aims to empower and educate 100 specially abled children with various disabilities -not just intellectual-and expand the focus of training from concentrating on magic to art forms such as music, dance, drama, cinema making, painting and skills in various musical instruments, all blended with a magical touch.

Gopinath Muthukad has been conferred "Celebrity UNICEF Supporter" [5][6] status to join the efforts of the UN agency in improving condition and status of children in the state. Muthukad is the first Keralite and the first magician to receive the honour. He was selected for his credibility and ability to communicate critical messages on child rights to a large number of people, particularly mothers, caregivers and youth. He joins hands with UNICEF to provide all children with opportunities to survive, develop and reach their full potential to the benefit of the sustained growth and stability of countries and a global standard of human rights for all.

Muthukad has been designated as State Icon for Kerala by the Election Commission of India, for his activities on creating awareness and motivating the masses to participate in the electoral process. Through his magical shows, he was able to create awareness on the importance of democracy and the need to participate in the electoral processes. He was the first Keralite selected for this honour. He worked as volunteer in the North East State of India where people is reluctant to cooperate in the election process.