Netflix is adding a new coming-of-age comedy to its September lineup as Best of the Best begins streaming today, September 18.
The movie stars Never Have I Ever breakout Maitreyi Ramakrishnan alongside Priyanka Kedia in a story about two childhood best friends who enter university and join UCLA's competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team.
What initially looks like an exciting new chapter in their lives quickly becomes much more demanding when they discover how intense the competition can become. Netflix describes their journey towards the US championship as considerably more chaotic and cutthroat than the pair anticipated.
What Is Best of the Best About?
At the centre of the film are childhood friends Maya and Anjali.
Maya, played by Ramakrishnan, and Anjali, played by Priyanka Kedia, arrive at UCLA and enter the colourful world of competitive Bollywood-fusion dance.
Their new team brings together performance, friendship and university life, but competing at a high level means dealing with pressure that neither expected.
Rather than approaching dance purely as spectacle, the film uses competition as the backdrop for a coming-of-age story about ambition, identity and how friendships change when people begin pursuing their own goals.
Netflix's official September schedule confirms the movie joins the service worldwide on September 18.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Returns to a Coming-of-Age Story
Ramakrishnan is likely to be one of the movie's biggest attractions.
She became internationally recognised through Netflix's Never Have I Ever, where she played Devi Vishwakumar across four seasons.
That series combined teenage comedy with family, friendship, romance and Indian-American identity, turning Ramakrishnan into one of Netflix's most recognisable young stars.
Best of the Best places her in another youth-focused story but moves the setting from high school to university and introduces competitive dance as the central environment.
Priyanka Kedia Plays Anjali
Priyanka Kedia stars opposite Ramakrishnan as Anjali, the other half of the childhood friendship at the heart of the story.
That relationship gives the movie something more substantial to explore than whether the dance team wins a championship.
Competitive environments can change friendships.
People who begin a journey together may discover different ambitions, different priorities and different ideas about success. A dance team provides a natural setting for those tensions because individual performance and group success are constantly connected.
Hasan Minhaj Is Behind the Project
Comedian and television host Hasan Minhaj is another major name attached to the movie.
Minhaj co-wrote the film with Prashanth Venkataramanujam and also appears in the cast. Lena Khan directed the project.
Khan previously directed Disney's Flora & Ulysses, while Minhaj is widely known for Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and his stand-up work.
That creative combination helps explain why Best of the Best is positioned as a comedy rather than simply a conventional dance drama.
Bollywood Fusion Gives the Movie a Different Visual Identity
Competitive Bollywood-fusion dance combines elements of Indian dance traditions and Bollywood choreography with styles drawn from contemporary Western performance.
That makes it particularly suited to the multicultural university environment depicted in the movie.
Dance competitions can combine elaborate costumes, tightly coordinated choreography and music drawn from different cultural traditions, creating a visually energetic setting for a feature film.
It also gives Best of the Best a different identity from the many American coming-of-age movies built around football, cheerleading or conventional school athletics.
Indian Culture Is Increasingly Visible in Global Streaming
The film arrives during a period in which international streaming services are increasingly comfortable putting culturally specific stories in front of global audiences.
A production no longer necessarily needs to remove its cultural identity to reach viewers internationally.
Netflix itself distributes programming made across South Korea, India, Spain, Japan, Germany and numerous other markets to audiences far beyond those countries.
At the same time, American productions increasingly feature characters whose cultural backgrounds are fundamental to the story rather than incidental details.
Best of the Best fits naturally into that shift.
It is an American university comedy, but Bollywood-fusion dance and South Asian characters form an essential part of its identity.
Dance Movies Have Always Had Strong Youth Appeal
Dance competition has been a reliable movie formula for decades.
Films such as Step Up demonstrated how choreography, romance and competition could be combined into accessible youth entertainment.
The formula works because dance creates an obvious visual objective. Audiences can immediately understand when performers are improving, struggling or competing.
But modern audiences also expect more than a sequence of impressive routines.
Character relationships need to carry the story between performances.
That is why the friendship between Maya and Anjali may ultimately matter more to the movie than the championship itself.
Social Media Has Changed Dance Culture
The film also arrives in a very different entertainment environment from earlier dance movies.
TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube have transformed choreography into highly shareable digital content. A dance sequence can escape the movie or television programme that created it and become a trend of its own.
Songs can experience dramatic streaming increases after a dance challenge becomes popular. Choreographers can build enormous online audiences. Short routines can circulate globally within hours.
That makes a colourful Netflix dance movie particularly compatible with modern entertainment culture.
If individual routines or songs from Best of the Best connect with viewers, their cultural life could extend well beyond the film itself.
Netflix Has a Busy September Release Schedule
Best of the Best is arriving during a crowded streaming week.
Netflix added several new movies and series on September 18, while the wider September schedule includes new and returning programming across comedy, animation, drama and international television.
Competition for viewers' attention is therefore significant.
Streaming platforms release so much content that simply appearing on a major service no longer guarantees that a film will become a cultural event.
Movies increasingly need a recognisable star, compelling concept or strong social-media conversation to break through.
Best of the Best has at least two of those ingredients: Ramakrishnan's existing audience and the visual appeal of competitive Bollywood dance.
September 18 Is a Busy Day for Streaming
The movie is also competing against several other new releases.
Netflix's September 18 additions include another instalment of Pokémon Horizons, while other streaming services are releasing their own new programming heading into the weekend.
That crowded environment illustrates how dramatically entertainment consumption has changed.
Friday once primarily meant new theatrical releases. Now audiences can simultaneously choose among cinema premieres, Netflix movies, returning television seasons, live sport, YouTube and social media.
The competition is no longer simply movie versus movie.
It is every form of entertainment competing for the same few hours of attention.
Why Best of the Best Could Find an Audience
The film combines several subjects that already have established audiences: college comedy, dance competitions, South Asian culture and a star associated with one of Netflix's successful young-adult series.
It is also accessible without requiring viewers to understand an existing franchise.
That matters in a streaming landscape increasingly crowded with sequels, adaptations and cinematic universes.
A straightforward story about two friends entering a competitive new world can be comparatively easy for audiences to discover.
Whether that translates into sustained viewing will become clearer once Netflix's audience data and viewing charts begin reflecting the release.
What to Know Before Watching
Best of the Best begins streaming on Netflix on September 18, 2026. Netflix lists Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia as Maya and Anjali, with the story following the childhood friends as they join UCLA's competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team.
Lena Khan directs, while Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam are credited as writers. Minhaj also appears in the movie.
For Netflix, it is another attempt to combine a culturally specific story with the globally familiar language of friendship, competition and coming of age.
And for viewers looking for something new this weekend, the pitch is uncomplicated: two best friends, one fiercely competitive dance team and a championship capable of testing both.
