Entertainment / Dr. Cabbie Star & Creator Vinay Virmani Chats About His Creative Process

Dr. Cabbie Star & Creator Vinay Virmani Chats About His Creative Process

Entertainment Sep 29, 2014

by Swati Bhatt Vyas

Dr. Cabbie's Vinay Virmani: a writer, producer and actor

The Canadian film Dr. Cabbie which depicts the immigrant story has been gaining quite a bit of international attention since its recent release in theatres sept 19th. During the last ten days, the film has grossed over $702,000 cdn, averaging more than $13,000 cdn, making it the highest weekend screened average.

Where did the idea behind Dr. Cabbie come from?

Vinay Virmani who penned the story of Dr. Cabbie states he based the story on an encounter with a young Indian doctor (in his early 30's) who opted to be a cabbie in absence of a suitable residency in the Canada.

“I was very moved by that instance when I heard his story, and then the government had put out a study in 2012 that was called ‘Who’s Driving Your Taxi’ which sort of talked about the same issue. So that’s actually how it started and I just thought of an idea for a film about a young man who doesn’t let anybody take that dream away from them,” recollects Virmani.

His process

“I think, I am a writer and producer first and then an actor.”

Virmani started his career with Breakway, where he wrote the screenplay of the movie and played the lead protagonist.

His advice to budding screen writers

Drawing inspiration from characters in real life, “Whenever I write, I think the best material comes from the world around us. Like the character of Deepak, came from not one person that I’ve met – the cabbie – but so many people that I’ve met. I think that the great thing about writing a script or a story or character is there’s so much going on in the world around us, but you have to document it. Always keep a journal.” He further adds, “Especially being South Asian and having such a strong cultural background, we have so many stories around us, especially when we look at bridging the gap with our immigrating experiences. That’s my advice to young writers is to just keep some type of documentation for things that inspire you.”

Virmani goes on to tell me he how he aspires to create a new kind of cinema that attracts a niche, multicultural audience.

“I want to create content, films, tell stories that are particularly unique to us, immigrant stories, but also keeping it universal, keeping it mainstream, but just something different,” he says.

What does Vinay have in store for 2015?

Virmani is on the lookout for that perfect script which he can direct. From the success of Dr. Cabbie, Vinay I can assure you you’re audience eagerly awaits!

_{Feature Image courtesy of facebook.com/Dr.Cabbie

Photography In Blog Body: Annandi Merhai ANOKHI MEDIA}

Swati Bhatt Vyas

Author

With a master’s in Journalism from Mumbai University, Swati published her first book as one of the youngest female self-help authors in India. Later in 2011, she penned her second book. Since then she has worked extensively in print, web & broadcast media in India & Canada. She c...

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