NOW you see him, now you don’t!

Indian restaurant owner Resh Gohel will do a disappearing act when he shuts his business later this month to follow his dream of being a professional magician.

Resh took over his dad’s restaurant, Sukhi’s, in Blackburn Road, Darwen, in 2012, renaming it and launching a new cocktail bar and ‘Man v Food’ challenges.

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But he said he had achieved what he had set out to and was now ready to change direction completely.

Resh said: “Me and my dad have had the restaurant for about 15 years and I have got to the stage now where I have reached my goals for the business.

“I have been doing magic on the side and I want to pursue my career as a magician.

“The restaurant will be shutting down and I will be handing the keys back to the landlord.”

Resh’s Indian Restaurant and Cocktail Bar will close for the final time on Sunday, March 29.

Resh said: “It is a big risk but I am following my dream.

“I have met the likes of David Blaine and Derren Brown and they have said you have to follow your dream.

“They all said they had to work wherever before they got to where they are now.

“It is a big decision to drop a business that is doing well and I have been doing a lot of soul searching in the past six months.

“I have had lots of people upset about it but you have to follow your dreams at the end of the day.

“My target was to get the restaurant to number one on Trip Advisor and to get my name out there and I have done that.

“But I have reached the point where I have lost interest in the hospitality industry now.”

Resh said he had already started taking bookings for his new career and his first gig is on April 10 at Spice Lounge in Wilpshire.

He will then perform at the Blackburn with Darwen Mayor’s Ball on April 17.

Resh added: “I have been interested in magic for more than 10 years.

“I started on YouTube learning little tricks and then started performing at magic circles.

“I want to thank Andrew and Linda Upton, Gary Ramsbottom, Peter Harwood and all of my other loyal customers that have made this business what it has been.”

Sukhi Gohel – who started his career at the Anaz and later worked at the Akash for two decades before going it alone – will continue to run Sukhi’s takeaway next door.

Resh said his dad, who had no intention of taking over the restaurant he launched, may consider opening another takeaway in Blackburn in the future.