Netflix’s new movie Best of the Best takes audiences into the world of competitive collegiate Bollywood dance, and delivers a fun, lighthearted story about much more than just dancing.
Written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, and directed by Lena Khan, the film follows two childhood friends who attend UCLA and join a competitive Bollywood dance team. Featuring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia as the leads, the movie explores dance, friendship and the growing pains that come with the college experience.
One of the film’s biggest strengths is the way it portrays South Asian culture without feeling the need to constantly explain it.
There are plenty of moments throughout Best of the Best that South Asian audiences will immediately understand, but the movie allows those details to simply exist as part of the characters’ lives.
It also showcases a wide range of South Asian American characters with different personalities, lifestyles and upbringings rather than relying on one stereotypical portrayal of what it means to be Indian or South Asian.
The Dancing Is One of the Highlights
For a movie centered around competitive Bollywood dance, the dancing needed to deliver, and it does.
The choreography is one of the highlights of Best of the Best, with several memorable moments throughout the film. The final routine is particularly strong, while the cinematography helps elevate some of the dance and rehearsal sequences.
The movie primarily features Bollywood fusion, with some of the moments mixing Bharatanatyam with hip-hop. That combination is particularly fun to watch, and it would have been great to see even more of that classical and hip-hop fusion incorporated throughout the film.
Best of the Best Goes Beyond Dance
While dance is at the center of the movie, Best of the Best is also a story about friendship and navigating college.
The performances are strong across the board, from the main cast to the supporting characters. The movie also delivers plenty of funny moments. Minhaj's appearances on screen add to that humor.
The story itself can be somewhat predictable, but the movie remains enjoyable enough that the predictability doesn't take much away from the experience.
It also incorporates some Indian history into the story, and handles those moments well. Perhaps the easiest way to describe the overall vibe is if Pitch Perfect met Step Up, but make it Desi.
It has the fun collegiate energy of Pitch Perfect, combined with the dance focus and fusion choreography associated with movies like Step Up.
For viewers who participated in Bollywood dance or South Asian student organizations at an American college, the movie may hit particularly close to home. That experience is rarely represented on screen, making it especially exciting to see a movie built around a world that has been such a significant part of the college experience for many South Asian Americans.
Overall, Best of the Best is a cute, fun and lighthearted watch with strong dancing, solid performances and plenty of South Asian American representation.
It’s the kind of easy comfort movie that could become a repeat watch, something to put on when you want to relax, turn your brain off and simply enjoy.
Best of the Best is now streaming on Netflix.
