Torbay wheel is Bollywood hit

It's in Bengali rom-com

Supporters of the Torquay seafront big wheel say it promotes the image of the English Riviera worldwide - and a popular Bollywood film turns out to have done just that.

The wheel was featured in a dance scene in the 2019 Bengali romantic comedy Chalbaaz (Trickster), which saw a film crew and some of Bollywood’s biggest stars filming in Torbay.

The story of a ‘money-minded youth’ who comes to the UK to seek his fortune was a big hit across Asia, where it was seen by millions.

The YouTube video of the title track itself has been seen by 4.2 million people. It opens with the star of Chalbaaz, Bangladeshi actor Shakib Khan, dancing and brandishing £50 notes in front of the English Riviera Wheel. The video cuts to chase and fight scenes from the film on the streets of London before cutting back to Torquay seafront for more dancing at sunset.

And if that wasn’t enough, the promotional poster for the film also featured an image of the wheel.

Torbay Council’s planning committee has just decided to allow the wheel to come back for the summer of 2024 - the 12th successive summer on the seafront for operators Mellors.

But members had to overrule their own planning officers to do it.

A report to the committee said that after more than a decade, the amount of harm done to the peaceful Princess Gardens and its heritage assets - including a fountain and Torquay’s war memorial - had reached a tipping point.

Officers said the money paid by Mellors every year for improvements to the area around the wheel is no longer keeping pace with the detrimental effects of the ‘alien and intrusive wheel’.

But councillors disputed the ‘peaceful’ gardens claim and said the area had a constant seaside ‘hubbub’.

And they decided the wheel was an ‘iconic’ attraction which was known worldwide thanks to the number of times it featured in social media posts uploaded by holiday visitors.

After the meeting, the council’s deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) said it is important to keep it because it is Torbay’s ‘wheel of fortune’.

And Carolyn Custerson, chief executive of the English Riviera BID tourism company, told the BBC she couldn’t understand why the committee had been advised to turn down the application.

She said the bay’s success was down to having a range of attractions such as the wheel.

But, she said, it would be important next year to understand the heritage concerns sooner.

Torquay seafront’s previous pop video limelight came thanks to Metronomy’s 2011 single The Bay, which featured spectacular aerial footage of the resort along with sequences shot at Princess Pier.

It was made before the first arrival of the wheel, however, and the controversial Hi-Flyer balloon can be seen in the background instead.