'It was a step in telling my story,'says Indo-Canadian creator of crime drama The 410

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 an industry that's filled with many Indo-Canadian Punjabis who live in Rexdale and nearby Brampton, which has a large South Asian population.

But in 2011, when news stories emerged about Indo-Canadian truck drivers being arrested at the border for allegedlysmuggling drugs,Wraich was shocked.

"It struck me as so strange because these men were like my uncles like my father and I felt like their families were our families," said the creator and star of the new web series The 410.

"It sort of rocked me because this is an aspect of my community I know very little about."

The headlines compelled Wraich, an actor and filmmaker seen inshows like The Good Doctor, Guidestones and Crawford, to dive into researching thesecases, includingmeeting with a lawyer who represents some of the accused drivers.

The result is her new three-episode digital drama for CBC Gem: Brampton-setThe 410, named after a major highway that links the community to the Greater Toronto Area.

The series explores subjects like drug trafficking, criminality and sexism, as well as the role of family. Wraichstars as an aspiring Instagram influencer who turns to crime to help her truck driver fatherafter he's found with a large cache of drugs and arrested.

'Let's tell a more complicated story'

Wraich and her cast of predominantly South Asian Canadian actorssaid they hope to shine a light on contemporary issues within the South Asian community.

For instance, the protagonistwas crafted from the idea of trying to balance different worlds: a young woman attempting to navigate her buddingcareer in social media, her Punjabi culture and personal conflict with her father, according to Wraich, whoeven started anInstagram account for the fictional character.

"When we meet Suri, she is the epitome of somebody who wants to be someone else," Wraich said at a red carpet event launching The 410 in Toronto this week.

WithThe 410,Wraich wantsto exploremoral shades of grey and depict complex and multifaceted ethnic characters.

"I don't feel perfect.I feel like I have a lot of flaws," she said, adding that she felt it is important "to talk about the issues within my community" beyond the simple archetypeof "people who work hard and they make it."

That's a notion echoed by The 410 directorRenukaJeyapalan, who feels that depicting an ethnic family with flaws makesthe showmore relatable.

"This story, at the heart, is about family and every family is flawed. Every family is dysfunctional in its own way," said the Toronto-based Jeyapalan.

"The immigrant family isn't always depicted that way.There's one portrayal of them in the media usually. Let's tell a more complicated story about complex, deeply flawed people and they just feel real."

The 410's gritty tone takes inspiration, Jeyapalan said, from the acclaimed HBO crime thriller The Night Of, which garnered British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmeda historic Emmy Award winin 2017. Ahmed, who played a Pakistani college student in New York charged with murder after a one-night stand, became thefirst man of Asian heritage to win an acting Emmy.

South Asian representation rare

The 410 is the latest in a small pool of onscreen content highlighting South Asian talent and exploring issues faced by their communities.

One of the most iconicbut problematicfaces of South Asian representation in mainstream entertainment has been The Simpsonscharacter Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. Among the numerous supporting characters of the American cartoon sitcom, the character of Apu has increasingly been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes about the South Asian community and Simpsonswriters' room blasted for its lack of diversity.

In Canada,Oscar-nominated Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehtareleased the 2015 movie Beeba Boys, a Vancouver-set look at Sikh gang culture. The crime thriller, which earned mixed reviews, faced criticism from police for glamorizinga gangland lifestyle.

That same year, Indo-Canadian director-producer Rakhi Muttareceived a warm reception for her YouTube web series Anarkali, which centred on a young South Asian woman who leans on her community to move on after being dumped by her fianc two months before their wedding.

Anarkaliholds a special place in Wraich's heart:the series offered representationof South Asian characters that shesaid she'd never seen before.

Moving forward, whether The 410 will continuedepends on how well it is received.But for Wraich, it's been cathartic simply making and launching the show.

"It was a step in telling my story instead of telling other people's stories," she said, adding that she hopes the character ofSuri resonates beyond South Asian women.

"For young women who haven't seen themselves represented in that way, in terms of a character that is nuanced and isn't perfect and makes the wrong decisions I never had that."