Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Puts the Pep in Her Step in Best of the Best First Look
The impact of Netflix‘s Never Have I Ever continues to live on with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who’s become a star in her own right with films like Turning Red and the soon-to-be Angry Birds Movie 3. However, she’s making a return to Netflix once again, but this time, she’s stepping up in the upcoming dance-based comedy, Best of the Best.
Along with the announcement came some first look images at the film, which sees Ramakrishnan’s Maya and Priyanka Kedia’s Anjali, in flashy, dazzling, Bollywood-inspired dance sequences and prepping for a competitive championship for their college. It won’t be easy, but the duo’s friendship might become a rivalry as their college days come around.
Check out all of the first look images from Best of the Best down below!
Best of the Best follows Maya and Anjali, two childhood friends who join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team. Unfortunately for them, they soon discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.
Talking with Netflix TUDUM, director Lena Khan stated that the biggest inspirations for her vision came from films including Dope and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. “Into the Spider-Verse had this slightly subversive vibe,” Khan explains. “It was fresh and cool, but also very funny and heartfelt.”
Notably, the Spider-Verse films also brought a South Asian version of the character to life in 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Pavitr Prabhakar. Given Khan’s keen eye for pulling different aesthetics, it’ll be interesting to see how these films translate into her original take for this boppy musical comedy.
Khan also talked more in-depth about the core of Best of the Best. “The biggest thing is that it goes very deep, but also goes very big,” Khan mentioned. “You get a movie that’s really exciting, but also heartfelt. I think sometimes you want to be able to sit down and have a good time that also [feels] really rich, and it gave you that.”
Netflix’s Best of the Best Will Break it Down on the Dance Floor
In addition to Ramakrishnan and Kedia, the main cast for Best of the Best includes Ankur Rathee, Janina Gavankar, Chaneil Kular, Becky Alex, Shreya Navile, and Hasan Minhaj. Additionally, Lilly Singh, Nihar Duvvuri, Nico Greetham, Amryn Khurana, Tanishq Joshi, Saara Chaudry, and Sasha Bhasin also join.
Best of the Best is directed by Lena Khan and written by Prashanth Venkataramanujam and Hasan Minhaj. The producing team includes Jonathan Eirich for Rideback and Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam for 186K Films. Ellen H. Schwartz and Ryan Halprin executive produce.
Best of the Best premieres on Friday, Septemberr 18, on Netflix.
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Chris Gallardo
Christopher Gallardo is a New York City-based freelance entertainment writer and critic. He is currently writing for Tell-Tale TV, Nerdtropolis, Popternative and Eulalie Magazine with previous contributions to The Hollywood Handle and CoveredGeekly. He has been featured other sites including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Direct, Collider, IGN, and much more. He is also a massive fan of animated shows and movies, ranging from Princess Mononoke to Invincible and Arcane, as well as a big Greek mythology fan who loves Percy Jackson, God of War, and the Hades games. You can find him on X and Instagram (@chrisagwrites)!
