# Dr. Cabbie
**Dr. Cabbie** is a 2014 Canadian comedy directed by Jean-François Pouliot about a young Indian doctor who immigrates to Toronto, finds his medical degree is not recognized in Canada, and starts treating patients out of his taxi after a backseat delivery makes him famous.[1](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/) Vinay Virmani stars as Dr. Deepak Veer Chopra, with [Adrianne Palicki](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrianne-palicki) and [Kunal Nayyar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kunal-nayyar) in the other lead roles.[2](https://www.netflix.com/title/80027824) The film was produced by [Salman Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/salman-khan), Ajay Virmani, André Rouleau, and Pauline Dhillon, and released in Canadian theaters on September 19, 2014.[3](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/entertainment-one--first-take-entertainment-to-develop-and-produce-salman-khan-films-dr-cabbie-television-adaptation-based-on-hit-canadian-film-516808211.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / year | Jean-François Pouliot, 2014[4](https://reelcanada.ca/film/dr-cabbie/) |
| Genre / runtime | Comedy; 101 minutes per REEL CANADA and IMDb, 1h 43m per Rotten Tomatoes and JustWatch[4](https://reelcanada.ca/film/dr-cabbie/) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_cabbie) |
| Lead cast | Vinay Virmani (Dr. Deepak Veer Chopra), Adrianne Palicki (Natalie Wilman), Kunal Nayyar (Tony)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/) |
| Canadian release | September 19, 2014; US release November 26, 2014[3](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/entertainment-one--first-take-entertainment-to-develop-and-produce-salman-khan-films-dr-cabbie-television-adaptation-based-on-hit-canadian-film-516808211.html) • [7](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/cast) |
| Box office | $225,490 gross in the US and Canada (IMDb); Rotten Tomatoes lists $223.0K for the US[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_cabbie) |
| Budget | Approximately 10 million dollars according to La Presse and Le Journal de Montréal; some anglophone sources indicate 25 million[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/) |
| Award | Canadian Screen Award 2015, Achievement in Music – Original Song (won)[1](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Deepak Veer Chopra graduates at the top of his class at the University of New Delhi and immigrates to Toronto with his mother Nellie ([Lillete Dubey](https://www.edgepedia.org/lillete-dubey)), sponsored by his uncle Vijay ([Rizwan Manji](https://www.edgepedia.org/rizwan-manji)).[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/plotsummary/) He learns that his Indian training does not qualify him to practice in Canada, and with his new friend Tony (Nayyar) he starts work as a taxi driver.[4](https://reelcanada.ca/film/dr-cabbie/) One night a heavily pregnant passenger, Natalie (Palicki), needs urgent medical attention, and Deepak delivers her baby in the backseat before the 911 crew arrives.[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/) Tony films the scene and posts it online; the video goes viral, passengers flock to the cab for treatment, and Deepak becomes known as "Dr. Cabbie".[1](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/)
The story then turns on the consequences of his unlicensed practice. Deepak gives antidepressants to a suicidal teenager, Zarah, who overdoses, and Natalie's jealous ex-boyfriend has him arrested, leaving him facing imprisonment, deportation, and losing Natalie.[1](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/) An ambitious politician who is the father of the delivered baby is among his antagonists.[4](https://reelcanada.ca/film/dr-cabbie/)
## Origin and development
The idea came from a real encounter. Vinay Virmani, a Toronto-born actor who had played an Indian-Canadian hockey player in *Breakaway* (2011), took a cab ride in Toronto and found the driver was a doctor from India who had passed the required exams but could not get a residency placement.[10](https://mediafiles.cineplex.com/CineplexMagazine_September2014.pdf) "One year turned into two, two turned into four, and he said, 'At the end of the day now I don't even feel like I have the confidence to be a doctor anymore,'" Virmani recalled.[11](https://infotel.ca/newsitem/film-dr-cabbie/cp29922506) The driver's line "I just came here to heal people and they won't even let me do that" became the genesis of the script.[12](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vinay-virmani-isabelle-kaif-interview-dr-cabbie)
The screenplay had a long history. Co-writer Ron Kennell began it alone in 2003, at one point considering a series format, and shelved it before meeting Virmani and Virmani's father Ajay, a producer, in 2012.[13](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/we-chat-to-the-writers-behind-the-bollywood-film-dr-cabbie-1.331239) The final screenplay is credited to Virmani, Ron Kennell, and Manu Chopra, with additional dialogue by Al Mukadam.[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/) Virmani described the result as a "cross-cultural comedy" that borrows Bollywood's cheeky humor and song-and-dance numbers while grounding the story in a North American context.[11](https://infotel.ca/newsitem/film-dr-cabbie/cp29922506)
## Production and release
The film is a Canada–India co-production. Production companies included Firsttake Entertainment, Montreal-based Caramel Films, and Hobo Pictures India, with presentation by Salman Khan's SKBH Productions and participation from Téléfilm Canada, SODEC, federal and provincial tax-credit programs, and the Harold Greenberg Fund.[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/) Shooting ran from April 12 to May 15 in Toronto, with a few days in [Chandni Chowk](https://www.edgepedia.org/chandni-chowk), a neighborhood of [Old Delhi](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-delhi).[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/)
It opened in Canadian and Indian theaters on September 19, 2014, on three screens in Quebec, distributed by Films Séville in Quebec and [Eros International](https://www.edgepedia.org/eros-international) in India.[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/) Entertainment One distributed in Canada and released the DVD on December 23, 2014.[3](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/entertainment-one--first-take-entertainment-to-develop-and-produce-salman-khan-films-dr-cabbie-television-adaptation-based-on-hit-canadian-film-516808211.html) The US release followed on November 26, 2014.[7](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/cast) Streaming release came on February 2, 2016.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_cabbie)
## Reception and aftermath
The film won the 2015 Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Music – Original Song.[1](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/) Its theatrical gross was modest in the United States, $225,490 according to IMDb, but Notable Life reports that *Dr. Cabbie* and Virmani's *Breakaway* were each the highest-grossing [Canadian English](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadian-english)-language film of its year.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/) • [15](https://www.notablelife.com/careergoals-toronto-filmmaker-vinay-virmani/) On Rotten Tomatoes the audience Popcornmeter stood at 64 percent from more than 500 ratings, with no critic reviews counted on the Tomatometer.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_cabbie) A Films du Québec review praised the Bollywood-style musical numbers but found the mixture of satire, romantic comedy, and courtroom film uneven.[8](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/)
On December 18, 2014, Entertainment One and First Take Entertainment announced a partnership to develop a half-hour ensemble television adaptation of the film.[3](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/entertainment-one--first-take-entertainment-to-develop-and-produce-salman-khan-films-dr-cabbie-television-adaptation-based-on-hit-canadian-film-516808211.html) For Virmani, the film was his first as a producer; after it he moved behind the camera, later co-writing and producing *Little Italy* (2018) and running First Take Entertainment in Toronto.[16](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity-interviews/vinay-virmani-dr-cabbie-12171/) • [15](https://www.notablelife.com/careergoals-toronto-filmmaker-vinay-virmani/)
## Cast
- Vinay Virmani as Dr. Deepak Veer Chopra[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Adrianne Palicki as Natalie Wilman[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Kunal Nayyar as Tony[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Lillete Dubey as Nellie Chopra[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Mircea Monroe as Rani Sharma[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- [Chris Diamantopoulos](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-diamantopoulos) as Colin Hill[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Rizwan Manji as Vijay Sharma[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- Isabelle Kaif as Simone[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
- [Stephen McHattie](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-mchattie) as Pete Donaldson[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
## References
1. [Dr. Cabbie, Caramel Films](https://caramelfilms.com/en/portfolio/dr-cabbie/)
2. [Dr. Cabbie, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/80027824)
3. [Entertainment One & First Take Entertainment to Develop and Produce Salman Khan Films' DR. CABBIE Television Adaptation, CNW (December 18, 2014)](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/entertainment-one--first-take-entertainment-to-develop-and-produce-salman-khan-films-dr-cabbie-television-adaptation-based-on-hit-canadian-film-516808211.html)
4. [Dr. Cabbie, REEL CANADA](https://reelcanada.ca/film/dr-cabbie/)
5. [Dr. Cabbie (2014), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/)
6. [Dr. Cabbie, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_cabbie)
7. [Dr. Cabbie (2014) cast, IMDbPro](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/cast)
8. [Dr. Cabbie – Film de Jean-François Pouliot, Films du Québec](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/dr-cabbie-jean-francois-pouliot/)
9. [Dr. Cabbie (2014) plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/plotsummary/)
10. [Spotlight Canada, Cineplex Magazine, September 2014](https://mediafiles.cineplex.com/CineplexMagazine_September2014.pdf)
11. ['Big Bang' star loved playing brash taxi driver in Canadian film 'Dr. Cabbie', The Canadian Press via Infotel](https://infotel.ca/newsitem/film-dr-cabbie/cp29922506)
12. [Vinay Virmani and Isabelle Kaif talk Dr. Cabbie, Daily Hive](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vinay-virmani-isabelle-kaif-interview-dr-cabbie)
13. [We chat to the writers behind the Bollywood film Dr Cabbie, The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/we-chat-to-the-writers-behind-the-bollywood-film-dr-cabbie-1.331239)
14. [Dr. Cabbie (2014) full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2831404/fullcredits/)
15. [#Careergoals: Toronto Filmmaker Vinay Virmani, Notable Life](https://www.notablelife.com/careergoals-toronto-filmmaker-vinay-virmani/)
16. [Vinay Virmani (Dr. Cabbie) interview, Showtimes.com](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity-interviews/vinay-virmani-dr-cabbie-12171/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2013 to 2014 › Titles symbols to I*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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