'Hoop Like This' Doc Profiles World's First Pro Indian Team
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- "Hoop Like This" documents the Brown Ballers, billed as the world's first professional Indian basketball team, with NBA Champion Jeremy Lin, ESPN's Shams Charania, and actor Utkarsh Ambudkar appearing in the film.
- India's no-dual-citizenship policy has historically barred generations of heritage athletes from national team rosters, making the 12-player Brown Ballers a first-of-its-kind roster that risks careers, reputations, and identities to compete for India.
- The roster includes an orthopedic surgeon, a gas station owner who was once the #11-ranked FIBA 3×3 player in the world, and a Silicon Valley software engineer who plays professionally in Taiwan.
- The documentary follows the team into an ESPN-broadcast basketball tournament where a $1M prize is on the line.
- Shubhangi Shekhar makes her feature directorial debut on the film, saying "our community doesn't need to look to fiction for heroes — they exist in real life, right in front of us."
- Grammy-nominated Nav, known for work with Drake and The Weeknd, executive produces alongside Akhil Hegde and Gautam Kapur; the film was produced by Shekhar, Kunal Patel, Pulkit Datta, Zach Galst, Tony Castle, and Roxy Hunt.
- The film also features Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi, and comedian Nimesh Patel, with UTA Independent Film Group repping worldwide sales.
Why it matters: Twelve players risk careers and identities to represent India under a no-dual-citizenship policy that has historically shut out heritage athletes, competing for a $1M prize at an ESPN tournament. Nav's Grammy-nominated music-platform profile gives a niche sports doc a celebrity-amplified launch across three major Asian American festivals this May.
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