Rob Lowe has filmed a lot of movies in Toronto over the years, but most of the time Canada's largest city does not usually play itself. But one of the reasons he is excited about his latest film, Breakaway , is that the city actually gets to be itself. Set in hockey-mad Toronto, the hockey comedy Breakaway tells the story of Rajveer Singh Vinay Virmani , who grows up in a suburban Sikh-Canadian home, but fights the traditional views of his father Anupam Kher. And just as Toronto has struggled to define itself over the years as "Hollywood North," Virmani's character also seeks to find his own identity.
In the style of Bend It Like Beckham , Rajveer works in his uncle's trucking company, but what he really wants is to play hockey. Lowe said his shift to the business side of the industry began about a year and a half ago when he partnered with a group of financiers behind Filmyard Holdings. They bought Miramax as their first investment and Lowe said the first priority is to recapitalize their debt and pay off initial investors.
Eventually we will make movies at some point There's a lot of different ways we're thinking about doing it. The film star didn't rule out teaming up with Canadian filmmakers down the line to collaborate on big-screen ventures. So one of the things we're doing is looking for creative partners to maybe move forward with those.
Lowe said his hectic work schedule required him to commute throughout the "Breakaway" shoot between Toronto and L. But he spoke effusively about his time north of the border, rattling off favourite restaurants, his affinity for a downtown sports bar and the beauty of cottage country north of Toronto where he managed to squeeze in a three-day writing session for his recent memoir, "Stories I Only Tell My Friends.
Now that he's waded into the high stakes arena of film financing, Lowe said he's eager to learn more about a South Asian film market that appears ripe for savvy North American filmmakers.
Rob Lowe far left and Vinay Virmani centre star in 'Breakaway. Now, he's intent on becoming a movie mogul. Related Links 'Breakaway' cast pranks Rob Lowe, talks hockey. Lowe squeezed the filming of Breakaway into a schedule that was already jam-packed with his TV day jobs, as a regular on Amy Poehler's Parks and Recreation , and the raunchy drama Californication.
We live in a world where movies are more derivative each year, and this is a film that just wants to make you feel good.
In Youngblood , which Lowe made when he was in his early 20s, he played the hotshot player who joined the Hamilton Mustangs and soon got the wake-up call that, to survive in the minor leagues, he had to learn from his team mentor, played by Patrick Swayze that he'd better know how to fight. Now Lowe has grown up — and, fittingly, so has his hockey role in Breakaway.
Sporting a frayed Mustangs T-shirt "This is my little nod to my first film for those who care" , Lowe says he jumped at the chance to play Dan Winters, a once-promising NHL prospect whose raging ego cost him his professional sports career.
When audiences meet the cynical, down-on-his-luck Winters in Breakaway , he's managing a local arena in the suburbs, where a fledgling team of really bad Sikh-Canadian hockey players are trying to be taken seriously. Winters takes on the daunting position of coach of the Speedy Singhs yes, everyone on the team has the last name Singh , who are determined to try to wrest the championship from the reigning local franchise, the Hammerheads, who don't think Speedy Singhs belong in their beloved game.
Breakaway is a first-time script by newcomer actor Vinay Virmani, who also stars in the film, alongside love interest Camilla Belle, Brampton-born comedian Russell Peters, as well as cameos from Toronto's hip-hop artist Drake and Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar. The film is a weird mix of drama, comedy and a love story — with a breakout musical number on skates, as well as a wedding where Peters shows up at the temple on an elephant and specially designed hockey helmets to accommodate the traditional Sikh turban.
During the Toronto International Film Festival, Peters says Virmani told him that his inspiration for the Breakaway script came after watching the stand-up comic perform and crack a joke about an all-Indian hockey team — the Toronto Maple Sikhs — where "Singh passes to Singh, and Singh shoots on Singh," laughs Peters, who plays a self-important businessman who has nothing but disdain for the national game.
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