‘Best of the Best’ movie review: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia ‘Step Up’ to take the floor

It’s your typical Netflix dance-drama — but not so typical, because it replaces the standard boy-meets-girl romance with the fierce bond of female friendship. Best of the Best is a coming-of-age film that depicts Indian-American college friendship and sisterhood with a good dose of warmth.

Two best friends, Maya and Anjali (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia), join UCLA as freshmen. Maya — known to many as “drone strike girl” — is reeling from becoming a viral meme after a drone malfunction during her dance performance. They both leap into the competitive, cutthroat world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance. There, Anjali wants to be the female lead alongside Ronak, the heartthrob captain of UCLA Agni, while her best friend and co-freshman Maya wants to completely remake the choreography and lead the stage herself. They’re all competitive and passionate about dance.

Over the course of the story, Maya quits the team after realising they don’t like her and after a bitter falling-out with her best friend, Anjali. The latter then gets off the team for a different reason. The rest of the story follows whether the friends reconcile and perform in the finals.

Maitreyi is known for playing Devi Vishwakumar in Mindy Kaling’s critically acclaimed Netflix teen comedy Never Have I Ever; her move from leading a TV series to a feature film marks a total transition. Priyanka, who played Grace Zhao in Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, stands out as Anjali. Best of the Best is directed by Lena Khan, who was, interestingly, a director on a few episodes of Never Have I Ever as well.

The story is simple, yet the screenplay moves at a brisk pace. Written by Hasan Minhaj (who plays a professor) and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, it has bright spots and commendable performances from the lead actors. The pacing is easy to enjoy, and the film mostly stands on Maitreyi and Priyanka’s performances. Hollywood dance movies usually work well because they reward the viewer with familiar faces performing rhythmic movements to catchy music. We don’t just watch these films — we get in sync with them. It’s an instant dopamine loop.

The humour is witty. Largely tied to South Asian culture in the US, the movie is full of good quips and memorable moments. There’s a running gag involving a white team member so immersed in Indian culture that he speaks fluent Hindi. You know how ‘90s movies always had one Black guy in an all-white cast? That trope gets flipped with the casting of this random white dude on UCLA Agni’s all-South Asian team. Director Lena Khan has made sure the cast represents South Asians from many cities.

Dance is the film’s highlight. Many sequences play out like a storytelling feature. The choreography integrates traditional Indian styles — Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and Kuthu — with modern hip-hop and breaking, designed by choreographers Phillip Chbeeb, Makenzie Dustman, and Joya Kazi. The dancing might seem rushed to some; after all, the film seems to be clearly made by creators inspired by the Step Up movies. It shows talented Indian-American students who are passionate and care about the art form, but this movie still cannot fill the Step Up-sized hole in our hearts. Some of its jokes on the Hindu-Muslim dynamic try too hard as well.

Even so, it has some high-energy sequences where the characters take the floor to show off explosive choreography combining street styles with South Asian flavour.

It unpacks some stereotypes, feels realistic, and is a classic collegiate drama. The drama drags, but the dance makes up for it. The vast representation of dance forms on screen makes the movie worth watching.

Best of the Best is currently streaming on Netflix