Kumail Nanjiani, also known as Dinesh by fans of HBO’s “Silicon Valley”, and his wife Emily Gordon the film “The Big Sick” a few weeks ago. The film chronicles their own real life story wherein Nanjiani, playing himself in the film, marries an American girl against his Muslim Pakistani family’s wishes.
Nanjiani has always been keen on shedding light on Pakistani culture and the life he has lead prior to coming to America, in his hometown of Karachi. Most recently, the people over at “The Big Sick” have developed a menu of Pakistani food related to the film with the dine-in theatre chain Alamo Drafthouse. The specials are now being served at Alamo screenings of The Big Sick in San Francisco and elsewhere alongside the theatre’s regularly offered menu.
The Big Sick menu includes dishes that play a role onscreen, like biryani with extra potatoes: Nanjiani’s mother makes that for him in the film in a sign she might forgive him for dating Emily, a non-Pakistani woman.
The menu, like the movie, is inspired by the culture clash of the couple’s backgrounds. At one point in The Big Sick, Emily tells Nanjiani that she’s been trying to cook Pakistani food — but either she’s a terrible cook, or Pakistani food is awful.
“When we first started dating, Kumail would take me to Pakistani restaurants in Chicago,” says Gordon, who is played in the film by Zoe Kazan. “I fell in love with Kumail and Seekh Kebab at the same time.” That’s on the menu, served with yogurt and vegetables on naan with fries.
The Star even shared the original menu on his twitter handle paying homage to the culture that gave us the film and Nanjiani
And here are the items on the actual menu. pic.twitter.com/NpfeDJfTtu
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) June 30, 2017