Bhaji on the Beach

Simi is the group’s confident leader, merging warmth with practical resolve. She deftly manages tensions between generations and keeps the day on track, demonstrating care while upholding her beliefs about feminism and autonomy. Her steady presence helps others navigate social friction without breaking apart.

Ginder is fleeing an abusive husband with her young son, fighting stigma as a single parent in a tight-knit community. She embodies resilience and cautious hope as she tries to build safety for her family while keeping their pursuit under the radar. Her arc centers on seeking freedom and protection for herself and her child.

Hashida is a high-achieving student about to start medical school who yearns to explore painting. She has secretly kept her Afro-Caribbean boyfriend Oliver a year, and now their pregnancy forces a choice about love, family, and future plans under social disapproval. Her arc explores ambition wrestling with cultural expectations.

Hashida’s mother embodies traditional expectations and protective concern for the family’s reputation. She clashes with her daughter’s modern ambitions, offering a lens into how immigrant parents navigate pressure from their children’s changing identities. Her stance highlights the generational divide within the community.

Asha is a devout Hindu woman who finds herself drawn to Bollywood fantasies and a more vivid, adventurous life than her routine shop-work might suggest. She experiences daydreams and moments of excitement sparked by a charming, eccentric English actor in Blackpool, while still feeling obliged to stay in her marriage. Her journey dances between duty and longing.

Oliver is Hashida’s Afro-Caribbean boyfriend whose relationship faces social scrutiny and familial disapproval. His presence intensifies the couple’s dilemma about whether to start a family and how to navigate cultural expectations within the broader community. He represents a bridge between different worlds and a test of Hashida’s resolve.