Great Moments in Bollywood & Basketball

"Yeh International game hai - Deemag is khela jata hai, gussey sey nahi"

(This is an international game, played by the mind, not with anger).

The wise words above were first spoken by Indian movie superstar Hrithik Roshan as he faced Aishwarya Rai in a 1-on-1 basketball game / flirting session in the film Dhoom 2. Now, I'm sure that the Zen Master aka Phil Jackson would've been very proud of Roshan's 'Zen' advice, but this isn't the only classic moment of Basketball in Bollywood. The Indian film industry, the largest in the world, may not have produced hoop-related classics such as He Got Game, Hoosiers, Rebound, White Men Can't Jump, Space Jam, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, Above The Rim, Basketball Diaries, and etc, etc, etc...

But, inspired by this article by Sportskeeda's Dibyasundar Nayak on the Top 5 Bollywood Movies on Sports (the list included cricket, hockey, football, and cycling), I decided that it was time to reveal to you some great basketball scenes from Hindi movies. Yes, there have been rumours circulating off and on for nearly a year about '4 PM on the Court', India's first basketball movie, but until this film is released, we have to make do with the limited amount of Bollywood Hoops action we have.

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you the Top 3 Great Moments of Bollywood & Basketball. I have embedded the videos, and below them, added my detailed comments. All three of the movies mentioned below were superhits, which can only lead me to conclude that Basketball + Bollywood = gold.

3. Koi Mil Gaya (2003)

Dhoom 2 wasn't Roshan's first stint with basketball: that moment belonged to the movie Koi Mil Gaya. Although I haven't had the heart or the motivation to sit through the entire film, I can guess that the story-line was a cross of ET, Forrest Gump, and in the basketball sequence, Space Jam. Basically: Rohit (Hrithik Roshan), a full-grown man of limited intellect, finds an alien called 'Jadoo' who helps him get achieve supernatural things. In this classic 9-minute scene, Roshan's team - the 'Paandavs' - which include him and four children, play a game of basketball for the 'Hero Cup' against the mean-looking 'Kasauli Tigers'. My running notes are below the video:



- There is something about the skin-tight vests on everybody.
- Paandavs have sneaked in the alien 'Jadoo' on to their sideline.
- Good touch in naming the team Paandavs, by the way. The Mahabharat's 5 brothers, five guys on the court.
- Jadoo has given Roshan some ill dribbling skills... Leads me to believe that Allen Iverson may have also had close encounters of the third kind.
- Oh man! Hrithik goes FAAAR above the basket for that 2-handed dunk. His WAIST is aligned with the basket there.
- I know Hrithik's the best player but dammmn he's being selfish out there. This is like Kobe in 2006. Who's Kwame?
- At 1:49 - NBA goaltend, probably legal by FIBA and thus India rules though.
- Good call by the Tigers to FINALLY quintiple team Rohit aka Hrithik.
- HAHAHAHAH 2:20 the Tigers player Freddie Weis'd the little Sardar kid... HAHAHAHAHAH
- Bruce Bowen would be a good fit with the Tigers, specially after 2:50.
- After 3 minute mark.... the kids are jumping but can't release the ball. No travelling call REF!!! What is this? A bunch of LeBrons playing here?
- That's a whole lotta dunks in this game. Now I wanna see Blake Griffin suit up for the Tigers.
- Halftime at 4:09 after a 49-0 tigers run (DAMN!).
- 4:38: AAAh so that explains the shooting slump for the Pandavs. Jadoo cant help them cheat if the sun isn't out.
- And so Roshan prayes to God for sunlight... Obviously no matter how great the Jadoo-led Pandavs become, they will never do well in the NBA indoor stadiums.
- 5:30 onwards... All I can say is DAMMMN!!!!!!
- And now, the Pandavs, who are taking Jordan's 'Air-time' concept to another level, are introducing you to the new unstoppable No-gravity offense.
- 6:56-7:05: Roshan with perhaps the greatest move EVER? He gets the ball at his own free throw line, flies and bounces to dribble once at the halfcourt (this bounce may have been repeated here to show its full awesomeness) and then dunks it in.
- Paadavs have responded with their own 42-0 run to make it 48-49
- Ref didn't call a single shooting foul all game by the way. Good clean fun, this.
- I'm sorry, I take back what i said a minute ago. 7:58 - 8:09 is the greatest move ever. Hrithik intercepts a shot, jumps, does three body flips in mid air to land his feet on top of the oppositions rim, and then drop the game winner. Incredible.
- Not fair, Paandavs cheated and had the alien with them. We need the Tigers to get some assistance. I suggest have Donague bet on them and then officiate the game.
- Cheater Paandavs won the Hero Cup.

2. Dhoom 2 (2006)

And now we arrive to this famous scene in Dhoom 2 that I mentioned earlier: Aishwarya Rai Bachan vs. Hrithik Roshan 1-on-1, a scene vying to be the greatest movie 1-on-1 battle since Ray Allen (Jesus Shuttlesworth) vs. Denzel Washington in He Got Game... Again, this is a movie that I haven't seen in its entirety, but the plot is something about international criminals, most of whom are sexy. In this scene, Rai and Roshan play against each other in the dark, in the rain (for the love of the game, I presume).



- I would also like to mention here that Aishwarya Rai (aka Sunhari) will refer to herself in third-person during the entire duration of this clip.
- Take note boys: If you dribble the basketball in slow motion in the rain, Aishwarya Rai will stare at you.
- Both in Koi Mil Gaya and in this one, Roshan has stayed surprisingly consistent to his basketball-playing gear, which has included a tight vest and trousers. This time though he has a bandana on, which means that he is badass.
- Also to further emphasize that basketball is hip, the director would like you to hear people rapping.
- 0:47: "Hey... Are you like, Checking me out?"
- 1:20: Time to play. Aish strips down to her mini-skirt. Recently, FIBA controversially discussed the idea of more revealing uniforms to sex up the women's game: Aishwarya Rai here is Exhibit A.
- Ok so it's ON!
- Roshan and Aish have their own modified version of flirtatious trash talk that Gary Payton may or may not approve of.
- 2:48: That's a carry Roshan, seriously. I'm serious about him getting as many travel calls as LeBron.
- By the way, Hrithik Roshan doesn't shoot the ball at the basket, he throws it, kind of like I did when I was 8.
- 3:06-3:12: Aish displaying her back to the basket skills.
- 3:20-3:23: Woah, what? Travelling, Aish.
- Roshan can ball but obviously need 'Jadoo' to dunk.
- 4:10-4:20: Some sick handling skills by Roshan, sort of.
- Roshan: "Yeh International game hai - Deemag is khela jata hai, gussey sey nahi". Someone teach him the Triangle Offense already, he already has the attitude!
- If you haven't gotten it yet, they aren't talking about basketball, they're talking about crime. Which is also an international game, played by the mind, not with anger, apparently.
- 5:46: Money shot!

1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Aah.. We're now at the main event. This one movie single-handedly turned a whole legion of young Indians to take basketball a little more seriously. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is one of India's greatest romantic classics, and this particular scene features a basketball game between two former friends who find and love each other later in their lives. This is the only movie of the three featured here that I have seen fully. So it's Shah Rukh Khan, one of India's biggest stars ever as Rahul vs. Kajol (Anjali). When they were in college, they were best friends, and she used to kick his ass. Now, they have a frosty relationship, but maybe hoops are going to bring them closer together. Let the love and basketball resume.



- I'm getting a flashback. The two kids are actually pretending to fight to make the two main characters play ball again and thus, eventually become close again.
- The debate within the kids and the adults here is: Can girls play ball? I think we're about to find out.
- 1:13-16 Kajol challenges him - it's ON!
- 1:50: And they're FINALLY on the court. I guess it's going to be a full-court 1-on-1. Although this looks like a small court.
- Yes, before you ask, Shah Rukh is going to keep his tie on.
- And yes, Kajol is playing in a Sari and barefoot. Man, I wonder what David Stern and the NBA's strict dress code regulations have to say about this.
- 2:10-2:15: Flirtatious trash talk during basketball is obviously something us Indians are great at.
- There is obviously no one to referee in this game, and Shah Rukh is being allowed to commit multiple violations in each possession.
- 3:20: Kajol steals the ball, but then has to fix her sari before the jump-shop. #IndiaBasketball
- Are they both shooting at the same basket. Wtf?
- 3:33-3:36 Oh no he didn't. If Ginobili was Kajol in a Sari, he would've flopped at that gentle touch of the waist and won the foul right there.
- 3:58: Shah Rukh Khan has clearly learnt dribbling from the finest.
- 4:03: DAMN she tripped him! REFF!!!! That's a potentially career-ending type of foul. Andrew Bynum would be proud.
- 4:40 onwards: Hahahah... So this part is, basically, "Let's all mock the Loser Girl while she stands sadly in the middle of the court."
- Of course, it all ends up all well and good, and hoops makes them friends again.

So that's it folks. Basketball helped underdog kids and Hrithik outdo the 'bullies' with magic, helped two young criminals spark a special friendship, and brought back two friends closer together again.

Moral of the story: Basketball in Bollywood, Bringing People Together. And ensuring blockbuster movies.

'Trey Allen': Jesus Shuttlesworth makes it 2,561

Life imitates art, and art imitates real life, and round and round we go. A few days ago, a 35-year-old Ray Allen shot two three-pointers - numbers 2,560 and 2,561 - to clinch the record for most 'treys' made in NBA history, going ahead of another legendary shooter, Reggie Miller. And if life and art are indeed so well intertwined, then Ray's success story has been like a movie.

Matter of fact, they did kind of make a movie. Not about him, but starring him. Ray Allen was Jesus Shuttlesworth in 'He Got Game', perhaps the greatest basketball movie ever made (Thanks a lot, Spike Lee). In it, Ray, aka, Jesus (named so after Knick legend Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe, not the Messiah) is a very talented high-school player whose only obstacles are off the court, in terms of a conflicted relationship with his father (Denzel Washington) and a bunch of greedy hands trying to get a share of his success.

The real Ray Allen probably didn't go through such dramatic issues, but his life on the basketball court should be more a documentary and an instructional tape for aspiring basketball players than a Hollywood thriller. Year after year after year, from Milwaukee to Seattle to Boston, Ray Allen kept shooting, kept scoring, and somewhere, between the ages of 21, when he was picked 5th overall in the 1996 draft to 35, when he is having the most efficient season of his career, he figured out the art of consistency.

About two weeks before Ray's historic night in Boston, ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote a well-researched piece about how some of the game's veterans today had found a way to defy the age curve and keep getting better, and he cited the examples of players such as Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash, and of course, Ray Ray. After Allen's record breaking night, Celtics coach Doc Rivers hit the nail on the head when he said: "If you’re a young player just look at Ray Allen if you want a long career."

At 35, Allen continues to be the league's model pro. After 12 years of success, Allen finally got his chance at the league's ultimate prize when the Celtics won the NBA trophy in 2008. And then he kept getting better. The Celtics are now amongst the best teams in the league again, and Allen has been their most consistent performer.

Here is the record-breaking three:



Now that he's on top of that three-pointers list with his 2,561st, you can be sure that he'll stay there for quite some time. From the active players in the league, the next highest is Jason Kidd is 1,756 (who won't be catching up because he's damn old and he can't shoot). Peja Stojakovic has 1,723 (too old/washed up to catch up). Chauncey Billups has 1,690, and then you have Rashard Lewis and Jason Terry. Simply put, the record is safe with Ray for quite some time now.

Now, if you haven't really seen him play, it might be easy to pigeonhole Allen as a one-dimensional player: someone who shoots the three really well and that's that. But watching Ray Allen is a whole different story: from coming off screens perfectly, attacking the basket, running the floor, and of course, being a feared pest on defense, Allen has a variety of skills in his arsenal to offset opponents. There are few players you would choose over Ray Allen to take that game-winning shot. It's no surprise that he was once again named in this year's All Star Team.

He is also, along with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas, known as one of the hardest workers in the NBA. Dig a little deeper into Mr. Shuttlesworth's story and you'll find inspirational stories and hours of practice that he's put in into perfecting that jump shot.

But it still comes back to the shooting. Allen has perhaps the prettiest looking jump shot I have ever seen EVER (I'll give Steve Nash second place here). He is already in the pantheon amongst some of the greatest shooters to ever play the game of basketball, but is he best pure shooter ever? Is he better than Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Jerry West, Chris Mullin, or Steve Nash?

That is a question I will leave for you to answer. For now, I will go back to 'He Got Game' to share my favourite Ray Allen story. If you've seen the movie, you'll remember that in the climatic scene, Allen and Denzel Washington face each other for a one-on-one game to decide the film's resolution. The director decided that instead of scripting the match-up, he will just led the two play naturally and film the scene as it is. The only thing for certain was that Allen was supposed to win: how he would win was left to the actor/player.

So what happened next? Washington surprised the young Allen, scoring four early points on him. Facing potential embarrassment in losing to an actor, Ray angrily stepped his game up, killing Washington from all ends of the floor. Within minutes the game was done, and the real life/reel life confusion created for one hell of a dramatic scene.

Art can imitate life all it wants, but as long as Trey Allen is in control, you know he'll continue to script the rest of his own Hollywood story.

India's first basketball movie to star Prashanti and Akanksha Singh

All those times I saw Spike Lee's classic 'He Got Game', watching Ray Allen aka Jesus Shuttlesworth drive by Denzel Washington, the one thing that DIDN'T go through my head was: "Wow, I wish I could see this in India." Not because I didn't want to see it; simply because, I couldn't even foresee seeing something like it, if you get the gist of what I'm rambling.

Well anyways, what I didn't expect to see might actually come to life - for perhaps the first time ever, an entire movie is going to be shot at a basketball court. '4 PM on the court' is set to become India's first ever basketball movie. It will be directed by Shine Krishna with a script written by Ajit Kuriakose Varghese, who is a basketball player himself.

But what is perhaps most interesting is that two of India's finest women's team stars, sisters Prashanti and Akanksha Singh of Varanasi, are set to have major roles in the movie as themselves. Prashanti, the captain of the Women's squad, and her sister Akanksha are currently with the team in Guangzhou, China, facing mighty difficult challenges at the Asian Games basketball tournament. But according to DNA, the two have confirmed their role in this upcoming movie, shooting for which will begin in Kerala in February.

Here is more information, straight from Derek Abraham of DNA, Mumbai:

“Yes, it’s true that we have been approached [for the movie]. We have been asked to play ourselves. I think this will be a completely new experience. I haven’t read the script, but I have been told that it’s a movie based purely on basketball. For now, though, we are focusing on the Asian Games,” Prashanti told DNA, shortly before the Indian contingent flew to Guangzhou.

Interestingly, Ajit Kuriakose Varghese, the movie’s script writer, is a basketballer himself. The movie (4 pm On The Court), he says, will be a “coming-of-age film” and “the first of its kind”.
Well, every movie is supposed to be unique, but when the 46-year-old tells you that the entire flick will be shot on a basketball court, you can’t but raise your eyebrows. “There are over 350 Hollywood movies based on basketball, but not one has been shot completely on one court,” Varghese says, matter of factly.
He then goes on to describe the script. “A bunch of collegemates are shown playing the game. After sweating it out for over two hours, they indulge in some friendly banter and leg-pulling stuff. This becomes a ritual. About a month later, two girls (Prashanti and Akanksha) join the college for a sports medicine programme. They go up to these boys and ask if they could play along. Moments later, their true identity is revealed and the boys are obviously left stunned,” Varghese explains.
The idea, Varghese says, is to portray the face of Indian women’s basketball. I want to show that this isn’t a game played by female thugs. I also want to show that playing basketball will do no harm to a woman’s body or figure. There are a lot of stereotypes about the game and women playing it. All that must change. We need to get more people on the court,” Varghese adds.
The movie will have five songs — yes, all on the court — and will be complete with a passionate kiss (no, neither sister will do that!). There could be one or two surprises too. An American coach could also play a cameo.

"It’s basically a Hindi movie with a bit of English. The budget is around Rs4 crore I am confident this will be a path-breaking movie,” says director Shine Krishna.

Wow! This concept has so many things going right for it... Potential cameo of American coach (I know Phil Jackson looks to India for his Zen-like meditative techniques)... Social message (girls should be allowed to play sports, too!)... Songs (no tree to dance around; basketball pole will have to do)... And of course, LOTS of basketball.