Netflix’s Best of the Best is introducing audiences to the competitive and highly energetic world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance. Directed by Lena Khan, the coming-of-age comedy premiered on September 18, 2026, and follows childhood friends Maya and Anjali as they enter the high-pressure world of competitive dance at UCLA.
Played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia respectively, the two friends find themselves navigating friendship, competition, ambition and rivalry while pursuing their passion for dance.
The film's focus on collegiate Bollywood-fusion gives viewers a glimpse into a dance culture that has developed within South Asian-American communities across US universities.
Joya Kazi Brings Real Collegiate Experience To The Film
One of the key creative forces behind the dance sequences is choreographer Joya Kazi. Born in Mumbai and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kazi has personal experience with collegiate Bollywood dance through the Hindi Film Dance club she started at the University of California, Davis.
Her background made her particularly suited to recreate the competitive atmosphere depicted in the movie.
Kazi worked as both choreographer and cultural consultant on Best of the Best. She also appears briefly in the film as one of the competition judges.
Her experience helped the production capture the intensity, drama and relationships that can develop within collegiate dance teams.
Bollywood-Fusion Meets Indian Classical And Folk Styles
The choreography in Best of the Best goes beyond conventional Bollywood dance. Kazi incorporated elements from several Indian dance traditions, including kuthu, garba and bhangra, while combining them with other dance styles.
This fusion reflects the experiences of many South Asian-American dancers who grow up learning Indian classical or folk forms while also training in contemporary Western styles.
The result is a dance language that moves between traditional Indian movement and modern choreography. According to Kazi, capturing these cultural nuances was an important part of creating the film.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan And Priyanka Kedia Underwent Intensive Training
The demanding choreography meant the lead actors needed extensive preparation before filming.
Ramakrishnan and Kedia reportedly spent two months training in Los Angeles. Their schedule included as many as six dance classes a day, six days a week, as they prepared for the film's major sequences.
The intensive rehearsals were designed to help the actors perform the complex routines convincingly rather than simply rely on editing and camera techniques.
When production moved to New Jersey, the choreography team continued working with a smaller crew to translate the rehearsed routines onto the screen.
Neha Anushka Connects With Her South Asian Roots
Neha Anushka, who plays rival team captain Selena, also brought a personal connection to the material.
The Los Angeles-based dancer has Sri Lankan and South Indian heritage and used the project as an opportunity to explore Indian classical dance more deeply. Although she had already trained in jazz, contemporary and hip-hop from a young age, the detailed hand movements of Indian dance presented a different challenge.
Anushka reportedly practised the hand gestures in her hotel room after rehearsals as she worked to master the choreography.
Her role also carries an interesting real-life connection: she is currently a student at UCLA, where she is pursuing studies in statistics and data science as well as communications. The movie's collegiate setting therefore closely overlaps with her actual university experience.
Tanishq Joshi Adds Another Layer Of Dance Expertise
The cast also includes Indian dancer and actor Tanishq Joshi, who plays UCLA team member Vishal.
Joshi has experience combining Bollywood music with hip-hop and street-style choreography. His previous work with the South Asian dance team Broad Street Baadshahz at Drexel University also gave him direct experience with collegiate dance culture.
That background proved useful for Best of the Best, particularly because the movie features large-scale routines requiring dancers to combine South Asian movement with contemporary styles.
The Film Features Several Major Dance Battles
Dance is not simply an element of Best of the Best—it drives much of the story.
The movie features a variety of large-scale performances, including a competition routine inspired by an Indian wedding, a student-union showcase and a dance battle set at a fraternity party.
One of the sequences involving Anushka is themed around Mount Everest and brings together several different dance styles within a single performance.
The variety allows the film to explore different interpretations of Bollywood-fusion rather than presenting one uniform style.
A High-Concept Finale Adds A Museum-Heist Element
The film's dance climax reportedly takes an even more ambitious approach.
The final competition showcase draws inspiration from the history surrounding colonial India's stolen jewels and incorporates a museum-heist concept. The choreography team had to deal with additional technical challenges when rehearsal props were replaced by powerful heat-emitting lasers during filming.
The dancers had to perform complex routines while carefully navigating the laser setup, adding another layer of difficulty to the sequence.
This combination of dance competition and heist-style spectacle gives the finale a distinctly cinematic scale.
Best of the Best Marks A Major Moment For South Asian Representation
For the dancers and creative team, the significance of Best of the Best extends beyond its individual performances.
The film places South Asian-American dancers and creators at the centre of a mainstream Netflix production. Kazi described the opportunity as particularly meaningful because collegiate Bollywood-fusion had previously been a relatively niche world.
The cast and creative team also see the film as an opportunity to inspire younger dancers who may not have previously seen people from similar backgrounds represented in major dance productions.
For dancers such as Anushka, who once rarely saw performers who looked like her in the hip-hop world, the project represents a noticeable shift in visibility.
A New Generation Of Bollywood-Fusion Dancers
Best of the Best arrives at a time when Bollywood-fusion dance has developed into a significant part of collegiate cultural life in the United States.
University teams combine Bollywood music and choreography with Indian classical, folk, hip-hop, contemporary and other Western dance forms. Competitions can involve elaborate costumes, large ensembles and highly technical routines.
By bringing this environment to Netflix, Best of the Best introduces audiences outside those communities to a dance culture that has largely developed through student organisations and South Asian-American communities.
Why Best of the Best Is More Than A Dance Movie
At its core, Best of the Best is a coming-of-age story about friendship, ambition and competition. But its dance sequences provide the film with a much broader cultural dimension.
Through Maya and Anjali's journey, viewers are introduced to the discipline behind collegiate dance, the pressure of competition and the cultural identity that can be expressed through movement.
With Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia leading the cast and Joya Kazi guiding the choreography and cultural details, the film combines mainstream entertainment with a specific South Asian-American experience.
Its arrival on Netflix therefore represents an important opportunity for collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance to reach viewers far beyond university campuses and the communities where the style has traditionally flourished.
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