Get Up Aisha started as a trailer posted on Reddit four years ago and is now a new TV dramedy about mental health in the South Asian community premiering on CBC Gem Wednesday.
The main character Aisha Rehman is a Pakistani Canadian university student diagnosed with high-functioning depression after attempting suicide.
Rehman treats her diagnosis like a checklist of activities for her to do so she can feel like she’s finally “fixed” herself.
Rehman’s therapist Alice, played by Ann Pornel from The Great Canadian Baking Show, helps with her journey.
The concept of Get Up Aisha was developed by show creators Rabiya Mansoor, Nisha Khan and Marushka Jessica Almeida – all who are talented writers and producers who have credits in Crave, the WBD Access and Canadian Academy Writer’s Program, Disney Junior, and Netflix.
“We wanted to tell a specific story but try to make it as universal as possible,” Mansoor told Now Toronto.
As the creators started casting for the role of Aisha, they were looking for someone with a Pakistani background to show every South Asian person has their own unique experience.
The Boys actress Sana Asad told Now Toronto she saw the casting description as “Pakistani girl” instead of the usual “BIPOC” or “open ethnicity” requirements, and she was intrigued.
The show includes scenes of the cast in a mosque, which reminded Asad of her own childhood being a first generation Iranian-Pakistani Canadian.
“People will discount the religious side or science side but we wanted to bring both sides into the story as well,” Mansoor said.
Another unique aspect of the show is the focus on dealing with depression in the South Asian community.
“It feels like a taboo topic to talk about when it really shouldn’t be that way,” Mansoor said.
Mansoor, Khan, and Almeida all wanted to discuss mental health challenges because of their shared experiences with depression and running around with Type A tendencies.
“We really wanted to break that open and have a wider community conversation about these issues.”
Mansoor was inspired by her own situation where her parents were supportive of her struggles, but never wanted her to tell anyone else. “Lo kya kahenge,” translated as “what will people say?” Mansoor’s parents would say to her in Urdu.
One of the goals of the show is to help people feel like they’re not alone, according to Mansoor.
Khan has taken over the production’s Instagram account by uploading resources from experts and graphic material about the show, like Aisha’s checklist to cure depression.
“We film some ancillary content between Sana and a psychiatrist about more in-depth mental health questions,” Mansoor said.
The lead actress herself began embracing going to therapy after filming Get Up Aisha.
“It shows you how you can better cope with what you’re going through,” she said.
All episodes of the series are available to stream on CBC Gem.
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