Manick Sorcar
Encyclopedia
Manick Sorcar is an Indian American
artist, engineer, and entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado
, USA.
Sorcar is an award-winning artist in various media, including fine arts, cartoons, animations, laser arts, and world-touring stage shows with live action mixed with laser animation. His animated films, all based on children's stories from India, have won prestigious awards at international film festivals and been broadcast on the Public Broadcasting Service
for 18 years. He shot to fame in the nineties when his Deepa and Rupa: A Fairy Tale From India, India's first animation mixed with live action, received the Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival
in 1990, and The Sage and the Mouse won the Gold Medal at the International Film Festival of New York in 1993. After this, his Calcutta Forever: A Laser Fantasy was recorded as the first laser-documentary screened inside a movie theatre. In 2000, he received the Excellence in Art Plaque from the National Federation of Indian American Associations in New Jersey, for his laser shows Dancing with My Soul and India Forever. Hosted by the Indian Consulate General of San Francisco for India’s 61st Republic Day
celebration on January 26, 2010, his laser documentary Our Republic’s Birth, which captured India’s history starting from 3300 BCE to its independence from the British and proclamation as a Republic Dominion was shown at the historic Palace of Fine Arts
in San Francisco, California
.
Sorcar is the first Indian-American to receive the ILDA Artistic Award twice from the International Laser Display Association
. The first was in 2006 for his Enlightenment of Buddha, which mixed live-performance with life-size laser animation and three-dimensional visual effects on stage and won the First Place at the 2005 International Laser Display Association award contest. The second was in 2008, for his laser-art Reflection, which also won First Place for laser photography at the 2007 ILDA award contest.
Sorcar is the president of Sorcar Engineering, a Denver-based electrical engineering and lighting firm which did the lighting design for the Denver International Airport
concourses, sport centers in Japan, and several Saudi Arabian palaces. As an author in the field of electrical engineering, he has written several popular lighting design texts. He received his M.S.
in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Washington
and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University
.
Sorcar’s art and animation have been the subject of numerous articles, academic research papers, and books. For his simultaneous contribution to art and science, he was acclaimed as "the Renaissance Man of our time" in the book Voices of Colorado: Perspectives of Asian Americans (ISBN 0615202136) by Nestor Mercado, Elnora Minoza-Mercado, and Alok Sarwal. In 2009, he was the subject of the book World of Manick Sorcar: Where Art Becomes Magic (ISBN 1607252899), by Roma Sur, and in 2010 East Meets West: The Animation of Manick Sorcar (ISBN 0578054043), by Wendy Luna.
Sorcar has received a number of honors, including the Bharat Samman Achievers Award at the XXI Annual Meet NRI Divas 2011 of the NRI Institute in New Delhi. In 2011, Jadavpur University
opened the Manick Sorcar Laser Animation Laboratory. Sorcar donated laser lab equipment worth more than USD $100,000 and introduced the first laser animation course at the university as a special application of lighting for degrees in illumination engineering.
Sorcar is the eldest son of legendary Indian magician, the late P.C. Sorcar. As a young man, he helped his father create unique lighting effects for his world-touring magic shows, but never took up stage magic as a profession as he was more interested in doing his own brand of magic with art and lighting. He is married to Shikha Sorcar, and has two daughters, Piya and Payal.
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
artist, engineer, and entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, USA.
Sorcar is an award-winning artist in various media, including fine arts, cartoons, animations, laser arts, and world-touring stage shows with live action mixed with laser animation. His animated films, all based on children's stories from India, have won prestigious awards at international film festivals and been broadcast on the Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
for 18 years. He shot to fame in the nineties when his Deepa and Rupa: A Fairy Tale From India, India's first animation mixed with live action, received the Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
in 1990, and The Sage and the Mouse won the Gold Medal at the International Film Festival of New York in 1993. After this, his Calcutta Forever: A Laser Fantasy was recorded as the first laser-documentary screened inside a movie theatre. In 2000, he received the Excellence in Art Plaque from the National Federation of Indian American Associations in New Jersey, for his laser shows Dancing with My Soul and India Forever. Hosted by the Indian Consulate General of San Francisco for India’s 61st Republic Day
Republic Day (India)
The Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India on 26 January 1950....
celebration on January 26, 2010, his laser documentary Our Republic’s Birth, which captured India’s history starting from 3300 BCE to its independence from the British and proclamation as a Republic Dominion was shown at the historic Palace of Fine Arts
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still...
in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Sorcar is the first Indian-American to receive the ILDA Artistic Award twice from the International Laser Display Association
International Laser Display Association
The International Laser Display Association is the worldwide non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing the use of laser displays in art, entertainment and education. It was founded in August 1986...
. The first was in 2006 for his Enlightenment of Buddha, which mixed live-performance with life-size laser animation and three-dimensional visual effects on stage and won the First Place at the 2005 International Laser Display Association award contest. The second was in 2008, for his laser-art Reflection, which also won First Place for laser photography at the 2007 ILDA award contest.
Sorcar is the president of Sorcar Engineering, a Denver-based electrical engineering and lighting firm which did the lighting design for the Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...
concourses, sport centers in Japan, and several Saudi Arabian palaces. As an author in the field of electrical engineering, he has written several popular lighting design texts. He received his M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University is a public university located in Varanasi, India and is one of the Central Universities of India. It is the largest residential university in Asia, with over 24,000 students in its campus. BHU was founded in 1916 by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya under the Parliamentary...
.
Sorcar’s art and animation have been the subject of numerous articles, academic research papers, and books. For his simultaneous contribution to art and science, he was acclaimed as "the Renaissance Man of our time" in the book Voices of Colorado: Perspectives of Asian Americans (ISBN 0615202136) by Nestor Mercado, Elnora Minoza-Mercado, and Alok Sarwal. In 2009, he was the subject of the book World of Manick Sorcar: Where Art Becomes Magic (ISBN 1607252899), by Roma Sur, and in 2010 East Meets West: The Animation of Manick Sorcar (ISBN 0578054043), by Wendy Luna.
Sorcar has received a number of honors, including the Bharat Samman Achievers Award at the XXI Annual Meet NRI Divas 2011 of the NRI Institute in New Delhi. In 2011, Jadavpur University
Jadavpur University
Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...
opened the Manick Sorcar Laser Animation Laboratory. Sorcar donated laser lab equipment worth more than USD $100,000 and introduced the first laser animation course at the university as a special application of lighting for degrees in illumination engineering.
Sorcar is the eldest son of legendary Indian magician, the late P.C. Sorcar. As a young man, he helped his father create unique lighting effects for his world-touring magic shows, but never took up stage magic as a profession as he was more interested in doing his own brand of magic with art and lighting. He is married to Shikha Sorcar, and has two daughters, Piya and Payal.
See also
- P. C. SorcarP. C. SorcarP.C. Sorcar was the stage name of Protul Chandra Sorcar , a famous Indian magician. He was an internationally active magician throughout the 1950s and 1960s, performing his Indrajal show before live audiences and on television...
- List of Bengalis
- List of Indian Americans
- List of people from Kolkata