Magic performances are still popular around the world. The illusion of making things appear and disappear is still a fascinating act to all audiences. There are countless Hindi films made on this subject, but none of them could bring out the beauty of the tricks behind these illusions. The only movie that has stood out is Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, which delved deep into the world of magic and magicians through the simmering competition between two talented performers. The Magic of Shiri takes a similar route and portrays a familiar story, so without further ado, let’s get into the detailed recap of season 1 of the series.
Spoilers Ahead
Was Shiri a happily married woman?
Shiri was a Punjabi woman, the daughter of a magician. She was married to a middle-class Hindu man against her husband’s family’s wishes. Shiri was a homemaker who was revealed to have given up a great many things in life to have a secure married life with Naveen, her husband. Mini and Sonu were her children with him, and she’d been content, so far, with the life she’d chosen. Shiri from time to time missed performing magic tricks. Her father’s talent had been passed down to her as well, but she’d never pursued it.
Why did she have to take up a job?
Naveen was the only son of a renowned banker. His father wanted him to take up a steady job, but Naveen instead started his own publishing unit. The company was doing fine, as he was able to financially provide for Shiri and their two children. However, lately Naveen’s publishing unit was going through tough times, and he considered publishing adult magazines for some extra cash. Sadly, that did not work for him, as his last client decided to switch to a rival company, and as a result, Naveen had to close down his publishing unit.
A mentally distraught and embarrassed Naveen left his wife a note and moved away to his home town in Rampur, asking her not to look for him. Naveen had essentially abandoned his family, which forced Shiri to take the reins of the family in her hands. She initially had trouble finding a job, but she came across an advertisement for the job of an assistant for Magician Viktor. Viktor was a rude person, but he eventually hired Shiri as his assistant. She had no problem taking up the job and working at night, but her daughter Mini began to notice changes in the household as her father was nowhere to be seen and her mother stayed out late at night.
How did she meet Magician Saleem?
An adult Shiri had a memory of her and Naveen meeting each other at a magic show conducted by Magician Saleem. Years later, she found the now destitute magician, Saleem, working with Viktor. It turns out Viktor had been Saleem’s assistant. Saleem lost his left arm in a magic trick gone wrong, after which he had lost his popularity, and Viktor had taken over from him. Viktor was awful to Saleem, yet the old magician had not lost his penchant for his talent. Shiri, however, was keen to become a magician instead of just being an assistant. She was discouraged by Viktor and Saleem, as both claimed there was no audience for a female magician. However, Saleem happened to witness Shiri perform a magic trick convincingly. This helped him conclude that Shiri had the showmanship to keep the attention of people and carry out magic tricks. Saleem had a long conversation with Shiri, and he chose to be her mentor. She was delighted by this offer and decided to learn under Saleem, who wanted her to begin performing on stages to gain a name for herself.
Who was Aakash Sharma?
Shiri had moved in with her mother, since Naveen wasn’t around anymore. Her mother was not in favor of Shiri taking up magic as a profession, as she was tired of her husband, Shiri’s father, not providing financially for them until he eventually died. Shiri’s mother, however, agreed to help her raise Mini and Sonu. Mini, one day, out of sheer agony of not having her mother and father around, ran away. She was returned to the police station by a certain Aakash Sharma. Naveen’s father was not happy with Shiri taking up the job of a magician as it affected his image in his inner circle, so he decided to raise Mini himself until Naveen was back.
Aakash Sharma, the good Samaritan, showed up at Shiri’s home to find out if Mini was okay. Shiri, at this point, had decided to quit her work with Saleem in the hope Mini would come back home. Aakash walked into her life as an angel in disguise who offered her a job as an accountant at his publishing house. Since she was aware of how the publishing business and dealings in the industry work thanks to Naveen, she took up the job as it gave her a steady income.
Was Naveen back?
Shiri was good at being an accountant, and along with that, Aakash and herself were becoming fast friends. However, she never lost the will to become a full-fledged professional magician and continued her work with Saleem. Aakash Sharma, unlike her father-in-law, was supportive of her interest in being a magician. However, to her shock, Naveen was back in her life, but she was not sure if she was ready to forgive him for abandoning her and the kids. Naveen and his father were pretending everything was fine, yet she was having a hard time being around her husband. Naveen was being defensive about his selfish move. Her father-in-law also suggested she quit her job as an accountant, as he wanted Naveen to take over as the sole provider of the family so they could be a happy family again. Shiri was not happy with the arrangement as she was not ready to make amends, and she was honest about it with her father-in-law, who was trying to take control of Naveen’s life since he was in a vulnerable position right now.
Why were Saleem and Shiri planning to learn the canon ball trick?
Meanwhile, Shiri was keen to carry out the cannonball trick on stage, which was considered a dangerous one. In pursuit of the trick, she and Saleem visited many places in the hope of finding the magician who had aced it. However, when Saleem and Shiri found the magician, he had forgotten the trick, and their pursuit reached a dead end. However, Shiri was still keen, but Saleem was not sure about it. It was finally revealed that Saleem lost his left arm to a cannonball trick that went awry. However, Shiri was keen on mastering it and performing it so that she would establish herself as a capable magician.
Was Shiri ready for a divorce?
Naveen and his father sent Shiri a divorce notice in the hope she would run back to him over the fear of losing a partner and possibly children as well. Their plan did not work, as Shiri was angry at Naveen for being needy and desperate and agreed to sign the papers. This came as a shock to Naveen and her father, as they assumed Shiri would want to make the marriage work by agreeing to their terms. Shiri was ready for a divorce because she realized her husband had become a puppet to the whims and fancies of a father who was never okay with his son marrying her. Since Naveen had started working for his father, he could not look beyond what his father fed him about Shiri and her newfound love of financial independence.
Did she plan to win the Magic Marathon?
Magician Saleem encouraged Shiri to apply for the new competition named the Magic Marathon, which would be a platform that would help her become famous. Initially she was not allowed to take part because she was a woman, but Saleem used his influence to give her a chance. Magic Marathon was organized by a pan-Indian magician named Ronnie Divan, who was known for not revealing his face while performing the tricks on stage.
Who were the people who set up obstacles in Shiri’s path?
On getting a chance to perform magic on the stage for Magic Marathon, her act was disrupted by magician Viktor, her first employer. He was vocal about his displeasure at seeing her or any other woman performing magic. Viktor, just like any other man around her, was not used to witnessing women in this field. For them, women were only meant to be assistants or props to add beauty to their act. Women were basically objectified yet considered too pure and pious to ace in the field of magic. It was only Saleem who saw potential in Shiri and encouraged her right from the start. He was like the father figure she never had. The disruption of the act could have cost her and her stage partner’s lives, which was why it was crucial for her to take revenge on Viktor, and she did so. Viktor’s act was taken straight out of “The Prestige,” and Shiri disrupted it as a way of retaliating for him almost kicking her out of the show.
Shiri had finally become confident enough to stand up to those who underestimated her talent just because of her gender. Since Viktor’s act failed, Shiri had now become the finalist instead of him. Shiri’s second obstacle was Ronnie Divan, who had unceremoniously removed her from the list of finalists of the show. On realizing she was being sidelined again, she confronted Ronnie. To her shock, Ronnie Divan was her father, who had been alive all this time.
Did Shiri go against her father?
Shiri continued fighting for her place in the competition, as she genuinely believed she would win this. She was sure Ronnie Divan would be an obstacle until she found out he was none other than her father. She was perplexed that her father was trying to stop her from taking part in the competition. Her father revealed that he had heard her speaking about wanting to become a magician when she was a kid, but he’d shrugged it off as childish dreams. Ronnie, as a father, never had a plan to help her be a magician, which shocked Shiri. She was not surprised to come across yet another man who was doubting her just because of her gender and not her skills. Shiri did have an existential crisis as she believed that of all the people in the world, her father at least would support her dreams, but Ronnie was acting the opposite. Never meet your heroes, that’s what people usually say, and in Shiri’s case, she’d rather not have, as her father never wanted her to follow her dreams. He would rather have seen her married and settled down.
Ronnie was against her divorce as well, which made her want to prove him wrong as she decided to perform as a finalist in the competition. Her mother and Saleem also backed her. Shiri was apologetic to her mother as well for not appreciating her support through the separation and divorce. Her mother also revealed she understood Shiri’s reason for not accepting Naveen’s apology. She was angry at Shiri’s father as well for abandoning them and never looking back. When he came back it was only to disrupt his own daughter’s dream. This could be out of jealousy as well, since he was a witness to her being an excellent magician and showperson. Saleem and Shiri had met with a scientist who had come up with a plan to make sure the cannonball trick didn’t misfire this time. It was also revealed that it was Viktor who’d deliberately messed with Saleem’s attempt, which led to him losing his left arm. All three of them eventually came up with a trick that would stop a mishap from taking place. They could only remain hopeful past that, as magic tricks were basically scientific experiments that could fail.
The Magic of Shiri ended with Shiri and Saleem preparing for their act for the finals of the Magic Marathon competition. The main judge of the event was Shiri’s father, Ronnie Divan, who was waiting to find out if his daughter would fail or not. Just before her act, Shiri’s mother let her know that Naveen had attempted suicide, and he’d left a note for her. Naveen was not the kind of person who was good at accepting defeat. He left his family when his business was not doing well, as he felt he wouldn’t be able to provide for his family. His divorce plan also backfired, as Shiri had agreed to end the marriage and was willing to take on the custody battle. Naveen was not interested in working with his father, but he was forced to. Along with that, losing Shiri and his children the way he did forced him to take the step to end his life.
Shiri was shocked, but she was in no mood to abandon her act to save him or be there for her children. This was a bizarre move, as her motivation behind remaining in the competition was not made clear. Shiri ideally should have been next to her children, who she was keen to fight for in a custody battle. However, she decided to perform her act in the finals in the hope she would win. Her cannonball trick, which she had been working on for a while, turned out to be tough and tricky. To everyone’s shock, the cannonball trick worked out as planned, and Shiri’s father walked out. He walked out because he knew Shiri would win this competition now that she aced the most difficult cannonball trick like a professional. This would put him on the backfoot.
Ronnie Divan must have organized the event to find out who was his competition in the field, and since his daughter was becoming a crowd favorite, he had tried to put a stop to it. Since he was unsuccessful in doing so, Shiri was up for a win at the Magic Marathon. As per the ending of The Magic of Shiri, it can be assumed that Shiri did win the competition. However, there was no conclusion regarding her relationship with her children since Naveen had attempted to kill himself. There was no clarity on those particular dynamics. If The Magic of Shiri is given a second season, there would be a detailed plot line that would discuss her relationship with Naveen and her children Mini and Sonu. But for now, Shiri defied the odds and won the competition to become a famous magician everyone would talk about.
