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New documentary to follow world’s first desi basketball team
The documentary follows a 12-member Indian-origin team competing for a $1 million prize in The Basketball Tournament.
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Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 02, May 2026
- 17:48 EDT
- 44
Basketball team / Screengrab from the documentary
Filmmaker Shubhangi Shekhar is set to make her feature directorial debut with Hoop Like This, a documentary on the world’s first professional basketball team of only Indian and South Asian players.
The film follows the Brown Ballers, a 12-member team competing in The Basketball Tournament, a high-stakes event broadcast on ESPN with a $1 million prize, Deadline reported.
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It examines the personal and professional demands placed on the athletes, many of whom balance careers in medicine, engineering, and business while competing at an elite level.
The documentary also highlights structural barriers in Indian sport, including restrictions on dual citizenship that have historically limited athletes of Indian heritage from representing the country internationally.
According to the filmmakers, the Brown Ballers represent an effort to assemble a global roster of desi players. The initiative is led by Gautam Kapur, who brought together players from India, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States.
The film traces their journey from a 2022 debut loss to defending champions to a 2023 campaign that included a first-round victory described as the biggest upset in the tournament’s history.
The documentary features appearances by Jeremy Lin, Shams Charania, and Utkarsh Ambudkar. Each player’s story reflects a dual identity, including an orthopedic surgeon continuing competitive play, a gas station owner who was once ranked No. 11 in FIBA 3x3, and a Silicon Valley engineer playing professional basketball in Taiwan.
Additional appearances in the film include Vivek Ranadivé, Kevin Negandhi, and Nimesh Patel.
Hoop Like This is produced by Shekhar along with Kunal Patel, Pulkit Datta, Zach Galst, Tony Castle, and Roxy Hunt. Kapur and Akhil Hegde of HRTGE serve as executive producers alongside Nav. UTA Independent Film Group is handling worldwide sales.
The documentary will premiere in May with a three-city festival run at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the Asian American Showcase.
Shekhar, a graduate of New York University, has previously worked across development, digital production, directing, writing, and journalism with companies including A24, Verizon Media, Roy Kapur Films, Condé Nast Entertainment, and Patreon.
She was part of the inaugural class of The Salon Mentorship Program under the mentorship of director Anu Valia, and has received microgrants from New York Women in Film & Television and Brown Girl Magazine in collaboration with The Cosmos Care Fund. She is also a WIF Creative Documentary Producing Fellow.
In addition to her film work, Shekhar mentors emerging South Asian writers as a writer’s room lead with the Rickshaw Film Foundation.
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