Netflix’s “Best of the Best” took me back to the days when dance movies were a staple of television and school stages.
Directed by Lena Khan, the 2026 comedy follows childhood friends Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) as they begin university at UCLA and join a competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team.
Their friendship is tested as the team works towards the US Championship, with the usual mix of ambition, romance, rivalry and self-doubt along the way.
The story is familiar territory.
“Step Up”, “Bring It On”, “Save the Last Dance”, “Honey” and “Stomp the Yard” all made dance competitions, rehearsals and dramatic final performances part of the formula.
“Best of the Best” follows that tradition but places it within the world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance.
For me, that brought back memories of “Eastern Mosaic”, the SABC 2 programme I watched growing up. Before streaming made endless entertainment available at the click of a button, programmes like this introduced viewers to cultures, music and traditions they may not otherwise have encountered.
I remember being particularly drawn to the Bollywood music videos, with their elaborate costumes, dramatic choreography and large-scale performances.
There is a similar visual appeal in “Best of the Best”.
The dance sequences combine Bollywood choreography with contemporary and hip-hop styles, while the costumes add colour and theatricality to the performances.
The cast also put in considerable work behind the scenes, with Ramakrishnan and Kedia undergoing an intensive four-month dance training programme before filming.
That preparation shows, even if the film does not always give the choreography enough room to breathe. RogerEbert.com, in a more critical review, points to the editing of the dance sequences as a weakness, arguing that frequent cuts make it harder to appreciate the choreography fully.
Still, Ramakrishnan remains one of the film's strongest elements.
She has a natural comic timing and screen presence that suits the coming-of-age genre, and Maya gives her room to balance humour with the character's insecurities.
Her performance is one of the reasons the film remains watchable when the familiar plot begins to feel predictable.
There is, however, one part of Maya's storyline that I found increasingly frustrating: the insistence on positioning her against a more conventionally desirable friend.
Maya's insecurities are central to the story, but the “ugly friend” narrative feels tired. Ramakrishnan is charismatic and clearly capable of carrying a film, so watching her character repeatedly measure herself against an idea of conventional beauty feels unnecessary.
A story about self-acceptance does not need to begin with convincing an obviously attractive woman that she is worthy of being seen.
That is particularly noticeable because “Best of the Best” has more interesting material to work with. The film draws from the real collegiate Bollywood dance competitions attended by its writers.
The film does well when it allows the dance and its cultural setting to take focus. The choreography, costumes and performances give the familiar college competition story a distinct identity, while the friendship between Maya and Anjali keeps the emotional core grounded.
It is also unapologetically corny, which works in its favour to a point. There is something nostalgic about returning to a genre built around rehearsals, rivalries, friendship, romance and the pressure of a final performance. “Best of the Best” understands that formula and largely sticks to it.
What makes this version worth watching is the cultural setting. We have seen this story before, but not quite in this form, with Bollywood-fusion dance at the centre and South Asian friendship and identity shaping the characters.
I just wish the film had pushed further beyond the familiar formula. Still, “Best of the Best” is an enjoyable return to a type of film that has been noticeably absent from our screens. It is nostalgic, colourful and easy to settle into, even when you can predict where the story is heading.
★★★ (3/5) Bernelee says “Best of the Best” is an enjoyable watch with strong performances, impressive dance sequences and enough nostalgia to carry its predictable moments. It brings a cultural perspective to a genre that has been largely missing from mainstream dance films, even if it does not make quite as much of that opportunity as it could have.
bernelee.vollmer@nationalmg.co.za