Hoop Like This

Official Selection, 2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Closing Night Film, 2026 Asian American International Film Festival

A doctor, a software engineer, and a real estate agent walk into a bar… no, make that a basketball court. Gautam Kapur, a former NBA employee has one dream: to form the world’s first professional Indian origin basketball team and showcase the vibrant underworld of Brown basketball to the world. Unlike most sports documentaries, HOOP LIKE THIS highlights Kapur’s one-man efforts to frankenstein India Rising, a ragtag team of the best Indian hoopers from all of India, Taiwan, Canada and the US. As Kapur assembles NBA player development coaches, players from international pro-leagues–such as, 3BL, NBL1, and Bundesliga Pro-B–and professionals who have long put away their jerseys, India Rising will go from recreational tournaments to primetime slots on ESPN. They are the Cinderella story every sports lover can respect: cycling through rosters, navigating egos, tournament scams, and visas, searching for the larger thread that connects them all—their identity and comforting, homemade butter chicken.

Shubhangi Shekhar’s HOOP LIKE THIS gives us an insider glimpse of athletes, coaches, sports professionals, families, and celebrities–like Utkarsh Ambudkar, Shams Charania, Sonia Raman, and Jeremy Lin–combining forces in this grassroots effort to carve a place for Indian and South Asian players on the court and prove all stereotypes wrong.

– Selena Do