{"id":432490,"date":"2026-02-18T15:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432490\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:29:16","slug":"former-eastenders-stars-powerful-manchester-set-crime-drama-is-coming-to-uk-cinemas-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432490\/","title":{"rendered":"Former EastEnders star’s “powerful” Manchester-set crime drama is coming to UK cinemas next month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester-set crime drama Apnas is coming to UK cinemas next month, with a release date of Friday 20 March. The highly-anticipated release comes hot of the heels of the film’s first trailer surpassing 1.5 million views online. <\/p>\n

Apnas features an ensemble cast including Nitin Ganatra, best known as EastEnders<\/a>‘ Masood Ahmed and Mollie Winnard, who has previously starred in Coronation Street<\/a> and Happy Valley. <\/p>\n

Haiesha Mistry, who played Yasmine Maalik in Hollyoaks<\/a>, also stars.<\/p>\n

Apnas is described as “a contemporary story rooted in British Pakistani life, delving into family loyalty, personal ambition and moral responsibility”.<\/p>\n

The film centres on two Pakistani cousins, “whose lives become increasingly entangled with the criminal underworld, placing them in situations where survival, ethics and obligation are constantly in conflict”.<\/p>\n

\"apnas\"<\/p>\n

AFA Productions<\/p>\n

\"apnas\"<\/p>\n

AFA Productions<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

The synopsis continues: “As the story unfolds, Apnas presents a nuanced exploration of organised crime set against the backdrop of Manchester, amidst family expectations and social pressures. <\/p>\n

“Balancing suspense with emotional depth, the film delivers a grounded narrative shaped by realism and character-driven storytelling.”<\/p>\n

Directing are actor-turned writer and director Ashley Chin and Darren RL Gordon, who has worked as an agent and acting coach.<\/p>\n

The film’s soundtrack includes music by star Asim Ashraf (who also stars) under the moniker Ceazaa, as well as UK artists Wiley and Sneakbo. <\/p>\n

Apnas is the debut feature film from AFA Productions, which built a following online through YouTube channel, Apnas TV, which now has over 460,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

\"apnas\"<\/p>\n

AFA Productions<\/p>\n

\"apnas\"<\/p>\n

AFA Productions<\/p>\n

Related: UK film release dates<\/a><\/p>\n

AFA Productions’ CEO Fiaz Ashraf said in a statement: “Apnas represents a hugely important step for us as a production company. After years of building an audience online, bringing this story to the big screen has always been the ambition. <\/p>\n

“There has been a real sense of anticipation around this film, and we\u2019re excited for audiences to finally experience a powerful, character-driven story about family, loyalty and the choices that define us.”<\/p>\n

Apnas is released in UK cinemas on Friday 20 March.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Taylor Swift, is here! Buy Taylor in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99. <\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stephanie is a writer who specialises in pro wrestling, covering everything from AEW <\/a>and WWE<\/a> to NJPW.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she went on to study journalism at Birbeck University.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outside of her journalism work Stephanie is also a YouTube content creator<\/a> focusing on AEW and interviewing talent from AEW, WWE, and across the indie wrestling scene. She has also worked for Revolution Pro Wrestling as a backstage interviewer and commentator.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester-set crime drama Apnas is coming to UK cinemas next month, with a release date of Friday 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[147950,379,158143,381,96,1156,2839,158142,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-432490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-collection-latest-news","9":"tag-content-type-news","10":"tag-contentid-bc84246c-1630-4318-88b2-a9323d50be35","11":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-locale-gb","14":"tag-movies","15":"tag-shorttitle-powerful-manchester-set-crime-drama-gets-uk-release-date","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}