It is known that the ruthless world of Bollywood fusion collegiate dance is no joke. As best friends Maya (played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) unearth in the new trailer of the upcoming comedy Best of the Best, in the name of art, making it to the top requires blood, sweat, tears, and the sacrifice of one’s hair.
The film directed by Lena Khan, follows the close-knit duo, who join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team is set to premiere on September 18 on Netflix. They start to realize that the road to winning the US championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.
For Ramakrishnan, the Eelam Tamil actor who came of age as teenager Devi Vishwakumar in Never Have I Ever, the film represents a graduation of sorts. Her character’s gumption and vulnerability, on display in the trailer above, immediately resonated with Ramakrishnan. Maya convinces Anjali to try out for their school’s dance team, which sends both friends on a riotous journey of self-discovery. “Maya’s full of spunk. She’s got nerve,” Ramakrishnan tells Netflix. “She’s quite combative, but I love her. She’s not just your surface-level hard-ass. She’s vulnerable, and she really just wants to be loved.”
Likewise, Kedia felt uniquely connected to the role of Anjali. “I’ve been her before, and I still am her in small ways,” she explains. “I think we’re meeting Anjali on this really beautiful journey where she’s learning who she is outside the roles she’s used to playing — whether that’s the obedient daughter or unconditional best friend.”
At the crux of it, Best of the Best is a celebration of friendship, sisterhood, and, of course, the dynamic world of Bollywood fusion dance.
“[The movie] is a culmination of so many South Asian American kids’ experiences growing up in the United States of America,” says Hasan Minhaj, who also stars in the film and co-wrote the script with Patriot Act collaborator Prashanth Venkataramanujam. “It’s very much a coming-of-age story of the Desi diaspora experience. For both me and Prashanth, this is a culmination of a bunch of painfully true events that we got to witness firsthand.”
In addition to Ramakrishnan, Kedia, and Minhaj, the film’s ensemble includes Chaneil Kular (Sex Education), Ankur Rathee (Single Papa, Shehzada), Shreya Navile (Month of Madhu), Nico Greetham (The Prom), Lilly Singh (Bad Moms), Janina Gavankar (The Morning Show), and Kavi Ramachandran (General Hospital, The Sex Lives of College Girls).
Join the Best of the Best when the film arrives Sept. 18, on Netflix.
Source: Netflix
