This had all the makings of a pretty conventional young gay, high-school-set coming out story - acceptance (or not) by friends/family/social group/self-doubt and happy/satisfying final resolution.
This had all of these elements but there was something about the mix, the performances and, perhaps most importantly, the Indian setting that made it fresh and new. There was one Bollywood style musical number which was marvelous - and I think typical in that it was very elaborate and pretty much came out of nowhere. But it was wonderfully enjoyable and did in fact connect to the unfolding story - and the vigour and joy displayed by everyone in it was really endearing and heart-warming.
The nature of the familial and filial relationships was illuminatingly done and the unique nature of the Indian family group came across very clearly and effectively - and one understood how very difficult the process of coming out would be in such situations, given the greater and much more conservative family values (but not USA-style extreme) that are embodied there -and sympathetically too. The adults in the family were by no means painted a harsh villains as they can so often be in western films of this nature - here it was a more nuanced and less finger-wagging approach which made it all the more effective.
The focus was very much on the upper-class elite but it would be interesting for there to be an exploration of what it would be like for those who did not come from that upper strata of society. It was also fascinating to hear how they moved seamlessly between English and Hindi - I do not know if that was partly a marketing device but it was striking - and effective. The title was also effective given the centrality of the basketball team at the school.
But a really enjoyable and, in its way, thought-provoking film that was all the more effective for not being a shrill polemic. Highly recommended.