Prahlad Acharya

Prahlad Acharya was born on March 14, 1973, in Karnataka. He is a magician and stunt performer. Prahlad joined at Vaikunta Baliga College of Law to pursue Law course. But, he did not complete the course instead he became a full- time magician because of his love for magic. He is known for his acts as an entertainer specialized in freeing himself from the restraint of things such as ropes, handcuffs, and chains(escapologist). Being prominent for his escape acts, the Indian media named him "Indian Houdini." He is also a renowned illusionist and ventriloquist. He is a specialist in shadow puppetry where shadow puppets held between light and screen. He performed shadow puppetry using his hands (hand shadow artist) instead of puppets to create shadows of parrot, Bhagath Singh, Panther and much more. His show named Maya Jadoo consists of a 20-member magical display.

Maya Jadoo is a show filled with inherited Indian illusions. He was the developer of the art called “dramagic” that intertwines drama with magic. He married Poornima Acharya who is also a renowned magician. His achievements were 1000th performance of Maya Jadoo on April 7, 2001; escape at Jog Falls on May 20, 2000, and many more. At the International Magician's Convention on December 2000, he received the "outstanding magician award" and gold medal for ventriloquism and silver medal for Close up magic. On October 2, 1999, he escaped from a high-security prison in Bellary within 10 seconds. He started a rally known as “Jagruti Rally” for AIDS awareness from Karnataka to Goa in May 1995.He is the founder of the Institute of Magic and Allied Arts Development and Research in Udipi.

This institute was established in November 1997. He participated in "India's Got Talent", a reality show on Colors television channel where he competed with 32 performers in four rounds and made it to the pre-finals. In the finals of the show, he performed a shadow play on the theme of 'women empowerment' using his arms and fingers to convey the message. In an interview, he said that, the shadow play is a pure art that doesn’t need any gadget. He was attracted by this art when he was performing in Germany. He performed Speaking Shadows all around the globe including Germany, Australia, Singapore, Middle East and India. He was complimented and admired by many artists, the audience as well as the media. His performance always leaves the audience spellbound.