Manchester's Indian and Desi communities: Holi celebrations, 'Apnas' crime drama, and 69,000 residents mapped

Manchester's South Asian communities are drawing coverage from multiple directions this week, from Holi celebrations filling parks across the north-west of England to a British-Pakistani crime drama set for a nationwide cinema release. A photo essay in The Mill has taken a searching look at Greater Manchester's 69,000-strong Indian community, BAPS marked Diwali and Annakut with a communal gathering, and Manchester's Finest has updated its guide to the city's Indian restaurants.

🎉 Holi colours light up north-west England for ten days of celebrations

Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, was celebrated across the north-west of England with a string of events spanning ten days following the main day of observance. BBC News reported that the ancient festival, which marks the end of winter, is understood by Hindus to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. During Holi, people offer prayers, eat traditional food and sweets, and take to the streets to throw brightly coloured powders and coloured water over family members and friends. This year's celebrations in the north-west also featured dancing, music and singing, making them a multi-sensory community experience rather than a purely religious one. Events were planned at venues across the region in the days that followed the festival date. Holi's particular appeal in England lies in its visual exuberance: photographs from this year's celebrations showed participants dusted in clouds of magenta, turquoise and yellow powder, capturing the joy of a tradition that has grown well beyond its South Asian origins to attract participants from across different communities in the region. [1]

'Apnas' British-Pakistani crime drama set for nationwide release

A British-Pakistani crime drama titled Apnas is building momentum ahead of a planned nationwide cinema release, Eastern Eye reports. The film centres on two British-Pakistani cousins who become embroiled in the Manchester underworld, drawing on the city's streets as a backdrop for a story of family ties and criminal entanglement. The production reflects the experience of communities straddling two worlds — the expectations of South Asian family life and the realities of inner-city crime — and uses Manchester, with its large Pakistani-heritage population, as a recognisable and charged setting. Eastern Eye, the UK's leading British Asian weekly newspaper, has been tracking the film's progress as it builds audience and critical momentum. A nationwide release would give the film wide visibility beyond South Asian press circuits, placing a British-Pakistani story at the centre of mainstream cinema. The production represents part of a broader wave of British South Asian screen storytelling that roots genre drama — crime, thriller, family saga — in specific British cities and communities, giving audiences from those communities stories that reflect their own lived realities. [2]

🪔 BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha marks Diwali and Annakut in Manchester

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha organised Diwali and Hindu New Year Annakut celebrations in Manchester. BAPS centres around the world mark Diwali and the following day's Annakut — meaning mountain of food — by preparing elaborate displays of vegetarian food offerings arranged before the deity as an act of devotion and gratitude. The tradition originates in the Swaminarayan spiritual tradition and is particularly associated with Gujarati Hindu communities, who form a significant part of Greater Manchester's British Indian population. The Manchester celebration, as reported on the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha website, forms part of a coordinated worldwide programme through which BAPS communities observe the Diwali season. These gatherings typically involve sabha prayers, devotional singing, cultural programmes and the communal preparation and display of food. For British Hindu families in Manchester, Diwali and Annakut at the BAPS centre provide an annual focal point that connects devotional practice with cultural continuity, offering younger community members growing up in Britain a living connection to the traditions of their heritage. [3]

🤝 The Mill maps Greater Manchester's 69,000-strong Indian community

The Manchester Mill has published a photo essay exploring the lives of Greater Manchester's Indian communities, timed to coincide with the England-India Test match at Old Trafford. The piece, by freelance photographer Murtaza Rizvi and writer Ophira Gottlieb, documents a community whose 69,000 members — identified as Indian or British Indian in the 2021 Census — span multiple languages, regions and faiths. Rizvi, who came to Manchester from Delhi to study, took the photo essay from the Gita Bhavan Hare Krishna Centre in Whalley Range to the Indian Association in Withington, capturing community spaces that have replaced the Curry Mile as focal points for Manchester's Indian residents. The Curry Mile itself, officially Wilmslow Road, is now largely home to Middle Eastern restaurants. The interviews reveal a community working to forge a unified Indian identity across its many sub-communities. One voice quoted in the piece said: "We've been trying to find unifying elements that allow people to identify as 'Indian', as opposed to what their culture or language dictates." Among those featured was Ramnath Aggarwal, 71, who has lived in Fallowfield for 53 years after arriving from Punjab and still works in a wholesale clothing store. [4]

🍛 Manchester's Finest rounds up the best Indian restaurants in the city

Manchester's Finest has updated its guide to the best Indian restaurants in the city, covering a dining scene that stretches from old-school curry houses to high-end contemporary kitchens. The guide notes that Manchester's relationship with Indian food runs deep: the city's famous Curry Mile — officially Wilmslow Road — has given Indian cuisine a permanent place in the collective Mancunian imagination. Indian restaurants first began appearing along this stretch in the 1950s and 1960s, established as meeting places for immigrant workers who had come to Manchester to work in the textile trade. Today the guide covers street food spots, vegetarian establishments, fusion restaurants and fine-dining options alongside the traditional curry houses that first established Indian food as a staple of Manchester life. The guide, last updated in May 2025, reflects the continuing evolution of the city's South Asian food scene. Manchester's Finest notes that while the Curry Mile's character has shifted over the decades, Manchester as a whole remains exceptionally well-served by Indian restaurants at all price points and in all styles, from quick-service regional specialists to elaborate tasting-menu experiences. [5]

Sources: [1] BBC · [2] EasternEye · [3] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [4] manchestermill.co.uk · [5] Manchester’s Finest