Best of the Best dances onto Netflix with UCLA showdown
Netflix puts friendship on the dance floor on 18 September with Best of the Best, a Bollywood dance comedy directed by Lena Khan.
The film follows childhood best friends Maya and Anjali after they join UCLA's competitive dance team and chase a place at the U.S. Championship in Bollywood fusion dance, a stage format that blends South Asian movement with modern styles Variety.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays Maya, with Priyanka Kedia co-leading the team and Hasan Minhaj also starring Netflix Tudum. The wider ensemble added 12 actors, announced last year Variety. The script comes from Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam.
Ramakrishnan had never danced competitively before she was cast. Khan asked her for “Channing Tatum energy” and a full athletic rebuild in the mould of a Christian Bale physical transformation. Ramakrishnan then trained intensively for months before shooting began.
The routines were built with choreographers Phillip Chbeeb and Makenzie Dustman, with Joya Kazi credited as co-choreographer. The movement draws on Kuthu, a high-energy Tamil folk form, Bharatanatyam, a classical South Indian style, and Pakistani-influenced dance. To get the campus circuit right, Khan spent time with UCLA’s own dance team and travelled to North Carolina to watch live competitions.
What makes this stand out is how close the material sits to its writers. Minhaj’s wife danced competitively, and Venkataramanujam performed with an a cappella team called Chai Town.
The project has taken a long road to the screen. It was first announced in 2023 and was previously set up at Amazon MGM before moving to Netflix What's on Netflix. Netflix, which bills the film as a Bollywood dance comedy, released a trailer in August ahead of the 18 September debut Netflix Tudum. Khan previously directed Flora & Ulysses.
