Best of the Best Netflix Review: Bollywood-Fusion Dance Comedy — SkimNews
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- Best of the Best, directed by Lena Khan in her third feature, follows UCLA freshmen and computer science majors Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) whose childhood friendship is tested by competitive Bollywood-fusion dance.
- The script by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam blends collegiate drama, political satire, and commentary on dual-screen online life, anchored by the mantra 'To be extra is to be human.'
- Ramakrishnan's Maya is defined by a viral high-school 'Drone Strike' mishap that makes her an unwilling dance-community celebrity, while Kedia's Anjali navigates 'pretty privilege' and a romantic pull toward team captain Ronak (Ankur Rathee).
- Supporting performances include Chaneil Kular as Maya's love interest, Janina Gavankar as Anjali's mother, Lilly Singh in a 'spirited' cameo, and Minhaj himself as a charismatic faculty sponsor.
- Craft credits singled out include cinematographer Adam Carboni's daytime-warmth framing, production designer Henry Dunn, costume designer Elisabeth Vastola (praised for distinguishing cultural reference from stereotype), and editor Phillip J. Bartell.
- The film streams on Netflix beginning September 18, with the reviewer noting it sometimes 'wraps things up a little too conveniently' and feels like a 'bite-size song optimized for streaming' — leaving the reviewer wishing for a fuller three-hour Bollywood-style cut.
- Khan's prior work cited as context includes the immigrant comedy 'The Tiger Hunter' and Disney's 'Flora & Ulysses,' positioning this as a bigger, brighter step in her filmography.
Why it matters: Netflix's September 18 release slots a culturally specific South Asian coming-of-age comedy into its mainstream pipeline, and the reviewer's praise for its craft — particularly Vastola's costume work avoiding 'costume-pageant shorthand' — signals the streamer is willing to back specificity over flattening. The caveat that the film feels 'optimized for streaming' rather than a fuller Bollywood-style cut frames a real trade-off in Netflix's content strategy between repeat-watch bite-size films and expansive originals.
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