Don Carmody, producer of the international box office hit Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, is one of five producers on the cross-cultural hockey drama Breakaway starring Rob Lowe, which has begun principal photography in Toronto.

Breakaway introduces Canadian actor Vinay Virmani, who plays the lead role in the film, which also stars Russell Peters and Camilla Belle.

Set in the Indo-Canadian community of suburban Toronto, Breakaway follows a hero caught between a family’s traditional expectations and a dream to make it in the national sport of his adopted country.

Crafted by acclaimed director Robert Lieberman, the film will be presented by Akshay Kumar, one of the Indian film industry’s most renowned and recognisable stars. Breakaway is produced by Ajay Virmani (First Take Entertainment), Frank Siracusa and Paul Gross (Whizbang Films), Andre Rouleau (Caramel Films) and Carmody (Don Carmody Productions).

“This is one helluva piece of entertainment and I am elated that I get to helm it,” Lieberman said in a news release.

“I grew up in Brampton, where Breakaway is set and I know the characters in this movie first-hand. This is a great story about an Indian kid with a dream to do his own thing… something I know a thing or two about,” Russell Peters, who will serve as executive producer alongside his brother Clayton Peters, said.

Breakaway is scheduled to launch in autumn 2011 through Alliance Films in Canada and Hari Om Entertainment in India.