As an Indo-Canadian Punjabi growing up in the northwest Toronto district of Rexdale, Supinder Wraich was surrounded by truckers.
Her parents have a trucking school and her uncles are drivers in the industry that91裸聊视频檚 filled with many other Indo-Canadians who live in Rexdale and nearby Brampton, Ont., which has a large South Asian population, says the actor-writer-director.
So in 2011, when news articles emerged about Indo-Canadian truck drivers being arrested at the border for drug smuggling, Wraich felt connected to the stories and wanted to make a documentary about them.
Her fictionalized account inspired by the events turned into the new web drama series 91裸聊视频淭he 410,91裸聊视频� written in 2017 after she met with a lawyer who represents some of the accused drivers and he told her to focus on personal elements of her vision.
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91裸聊视频淚t was heart-warming to see that this community, because we don91裸聊视频檛 get our stories told, was so enthusiastic about it,91裸聊视频� said Wraich, who shot the series over 12 days at locations including her parents91裸聊视频� house, the Sikh Spiritual Centre Toronto and Brampton public transit.
91裸聊视频淓verybody was like, 91裸聊视频榊ou91裸聊视频檙e going to tell a story about us about our community? By all means, take all the resources we have.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
Debuting Thursday on CBC Gem, the series also stars Wraich as Suri, an aspiring Indo-Canadian Instagram influencer in Toronto whose truck-driver father is arrested after being caught with a large amount of cocaine. In an effort to make his bail money, she tries to sell a stash of drugs she finds in the family car.
Wraich said Suri was partly inspired by a character she saw on the comedy-drama series 91裸聊视频淗igh Maintenance91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� a young Muslim woman who tries to buy cannabis.
91裸聊视频淭hat was probably the first time I91裸聊视频檇 seen a South-Asian woman represented without hero qualities or desirable qualities or, 91裸聊视频極h, she91裸聊视频檚 a doctor91裸聊视频� or a lawyer or an accountant and she fits into this stereotype,91裸聊视频� said Wraich, who was born in Chandigarh, India and recently moved to Los Angeles.
91裸聊视频淥ften I don91裸聊视频檛 get roles where the characters have problems and issues and they91裸聊视频檙e not perfect, and that91裸聊视频檚 what I was really desiring. That91裸聊视频檚 why I wrote it, because I91裸聊视频檝e never played this part and I rarely get to audition for these parts.
91裸聊视频淭he only other comparable character I can think of is Kalinda from 91裸聊视频楾he Good Wife91裸聊视频� in terms of a badass, South-Asian female character 91裸聊视频� but the lead, in this case.91裸聊视频�
Wraich created an Instagram account for her character under the handle @Indian_Blonde.
At the beginning of the story, Suri has bleached blond hair, contacts to make her brown eyes blue, and a bedroom wall full of images of Caucasian models.
91裸聊视频淕rowing up, these images that I looked up to and aspired to were skinny, blond women in magazines, and this is where Suri starts when we meet her. Then she transitions into finding her power when she returns home,91裸聊视频� said Wraich, whose other credits include 91裸聊视频淭he Good Doctor91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淐rawford.91裸聊视频�
At one point Suri calls herself 91裸聊视频減retty for an Indian girl91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� a line that came from Wraich91裸聊视频檚 own life.
91裸聊视频淚 went to a predominantly Caucasian high school, so I was always the girl who was 91裸聊视频楶retty for an Indian girl,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淎t the beginning I took it as a compliment like, 91裸聊视频極h, that means I91裸聊视频檓 pretty,91裸聊视频� and later on in my mid-20s I was like, 91裸聊视频楴o, I91裸聊视频檓 just pretty. I91裸聊视频檓 not pretty in spite of my race; probably because of it.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
Wraich also co-produced the series, which is named after the highway connecting Brampton to the Greater Toronto Area.
Toronto-based filmmaker Renuka Jeyapalan directed the series, which is the first feature-length project for Mad Ruk Entertainment, a production company known for its music videos with artists including the Weeknd.
91裸聊视频淚 loved that it was a South-Asian woman at the centre and it wasn91裸聊视频檛 a comedy, it wasn91裸聊视频檛 something broad,91裸聊视频� said Jeyapalan.
91裸聊视频淚t was more grounded and about family in a more authentic way, and not your typical just east-meets-west kind of conflict but really the types of issues that are more complicated.91裸聊视频�
There are currently three, 25-minute episodes available, and while the finale wraps up some elements of the story it leaves the door open to extending the series, which Wraich hopes to do.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 taken a lot of things that I91裸聊视频檝e felt insecure about or hated about my community and given me a platform to have a dialogue with them about it, in terms of writing inside-out,91裸聊视频� Wraich said.
91裸聊视频淚 went back and forth in terms of how personal I made this, but if I can91裸聊视频檛 tell my story, how can I tell anybody else91裸聊视频檚?91裸聊视频�
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
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