‘Best of the Best’ Review: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia Dazzle in Bollywood-Fusion Comedy — SkimNews
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- Best of the Best debuts on Netflix on September 18, directed by Lena Khan as her third feature after 'The Tiger Hunter' and Disney's 'Flora & Ulysses'
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan ('Never Have I Ever') and Priyanka Kedia ('Disclosure Day') star as UCLA freshmen Maya and Anjali, both computer science majors on a competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team
- Hasan Minhaj co-wrote the screenplay with 'Patriot Act' colleague Prashanth Venkataramanujam and appears throughout the film as a teacher and faculty sponsor
- The plot opens with a high-school 'Drone Strike' dance mishap that goes viral, forcing Maya and Anjali to reckon with its fallout once they reach UCLA
- Supporting cast includes Ankur Rathee as team captain Ronak, Chaneil Kular ('Sex Education') as a love interest, Janina Gavankar as Anjali's mother, and Lilly Singh in a cameo
- The script blends collegiate drama with political satire on AI displacement and housing affordability, and threads in the dual-screen life that defines modern young adults
Why it matters: For Netflix, the streaming-first September 18 release leans on multicultural storytelling and recognizable IP — Ramakrishnan from 'Never Have I Ever' and Minhaj from his Netflix special — to anchor a comedy aimed at fall viewers. Lena Khan's path from intimate indie ('The Tiger Hunter') to Disney (('Flora & Ulysses') to her biggest swing yet suggests her directorial ambitions are scaling alongside Netflix's appetite for culturally specific ensemble features.
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