Not your typical rom-com

KUMAIL Nanjiani isn't exactly a household name (except in his own home) but he goes a long way towards rectifying the situation in The Big Sick. It's the story of a cross-cultural relationship between a Pakistani stand-up comedian and a white graduate student who meet cute when she heckles him during his set at a Chicago comedy club.

That sounds like a contrived situation if not for the fact that it actually happened - The Big Sick is based on Nanjiani's real-life courtship - and he also ended up marrying the girl.

You know it's a rom-com with a difference when a major part of the narrative involves an exploration of the South Asian identity and one of the primary characters spends half the movie in a coma.