New Delhi: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s latest Netflix film Best of the Best will once again focus on Indian-origin characters surviving in America. This time, however, it’s all about a chaotic Bollywood dance showdown in college, set to release on 18 September.
Indian-Canadian filmmaker Lena Khan will team up with Ramakrishnan, after previously collaborating with the actor on Never Have I Ever (2020-2023). Khan has also directed The Tiger Hunter (2016) and Disney’s Flora & Ulysses. (2021).
“If you haven’t experienced intercollegiate Bollywood fusion dance, you have to imagine the most cutthroat, competitive, pressure-filled, creative cyclone of performing arts that you’ve seen,” Khan said.
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The film revolves around Maya, played by Ramakrishnan and Anjali, played by up-and-comer Priyanka Kedia; the duo joins UCLA’s competitive Bollywood fusion dance team. Comedian Hasan Minhaj will also join the cast as a college professor.
Ramakrishnan described Maya as “full of spunk”, adding that she is the bravest character she has ever played.
“She’s quite combative, but I love her. She’s not just your surface-level hard-ass. She is vulnerable, and she really wants to be loved,” Ramakrishnan said.
For Kedia, meanwhile, the character of Anjali is one she uniquely connects with.
“I’ve been her before, and I still am her in small ways,” she said.
“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,” she added.
The film is also deeply rooted in the South Asian-American experience. Minhaj called it a “coming-of-age story” that draws from the realities of growing up in the Desi diaspora. He also co-wrote the film with Prashanth Venkataramanujam, as the story is inspired by “a bunch of painfully true events” that they witnessed firsthand while growing up in America.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)