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Spoiler notice: This article covers the official premise, characters and themes without revealing the competition result or ending.
Maya and Anjali arrive at UCLA with the kind of history that usually feels permanent. They have grown up together, know each other’s habits and believe their friendship can survive whatever college places in front of them.
Then they join a competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team.
What initially promises community, music and performance becomes a demanding road towards the United States championship. Talent is only the entry requirement. The team expects discipline, stamina and the ability to perform under pressure while navigating the personalities surrounding the competition.
Maya and Anjali soon discover that chasing the same dream does not guarantee they will experience it in the same way.
When friendship enters a competition
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays Maya, while Priyanka Kedia portrays Anjali.
Their friendship provides the film’s emotional foundation. The dance team gives them a shared objective, but it can also expose differences that were easier to ignore when they were younger.
One friend may receive attention while the other feels overlooked. One may treat the competition as an opportunity to belong, while the other may see it as proof of what she can achieve. Even without a direct rivalry between them, the pressure surrounding the team can change how they see themselves and each other.
The official story avoids revealing exactly what threatens their friendship. That is the correct decision. The important question is whether Maya and Anjali can grow into different people without treating change as betrayal.
A larger stage for South Asian students
The Bollywood-fusion dance circuit is more than a colourful background.
On American university campuses, these teams can become spaces where South Asian students combine cultural tradition with contemporary music, movement and fashion. They offer performance, competition and a community that understands why those things matter together.
Writers Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam drew from the college dance culture they had witnessed themselves. Their story uses the team to examine ambition, identity and the need to feel visible.
Hasan Minhaj also appears as Hamza Latif, a professor connected to the students’ university experience.
Director Lena Khan has described the film as a mixture of dance, friendship, comedy, spectacle and coming-of-age drama. That combination should give the movie energy without forcing it to choose between entertaining performances and quieter character moments.
Why winning cannot be the entire story
A national championship gives Best of the Best a clear destination. The team trains, competes and tries to prove that it deserves the title.
However, the outcome will matter only if the journey changes Maya and Anjali.
Dance movies often depend on a final performance, but the strongest ones make viewers understand what each movement costs. Rehearsals take time away from studies and relationships. Competition can turn confidence into comparison. A team can offer belonging while demanding that individuals sacrifice part of themselves.
The film’s deeper challenge is showing why these two friends need the experience even if only one team can win.
Who should watch it?
Best of the Best should suit viewers looking for an energetic coming-of-age comedy with friendship at its centre.
It may particularly appeal to audiences who enjoy:
Competitive dance stories
College comedies
South Asian characters and cultural settings
Female friendships tested by ambition
Stories about identity and self-acceptance
Colourful performance sequences with emotional stakes
Netflix lists the film at approximately one hour and 52 minutes with a 13+ classification. Families should still check the rating displayed in their region.
Flicklevel outlook
The dance competition will provide spectacle, but Maya and Anjali’s friendship must give it meaning.
Neither character should exist only to support the other person’s success. Both need ambitions, weaknesses and choices that feel complete. If the film gives them equal emotional weight, the competition can become a believable test of who they are becoming.
Best of the Best premieres on Netflix on September 18, 2026.
Official source: Netflix Tudum – Best of the Best