Best of the Best (2026) Review: Bollywood-Fusion Dance

Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) have been inseparable since freshman orientation at UCLA, bonded less by shared background than by a shared obsession with dance. When a campus Bollywood-fusion team holds auditions for the upcoming collegiate championship season, the two best friends leap in headfirst - only to discover that the world they're entering is far more cutthroat than they imagined. Egos clash, choreography becomes political, and the line between supporting each other and competing against each other blurs fast. What begins as a fun extracurricular becomes a test of whether their friendship can survive ambition.

The film's greatest asset is its specificity. Khan, who has spent her career telling stories rooted in South Asian American life, doesn't treat Bollywood-fusion as a gimmick or a punchline. The dance sequences are shot with genuine reverence - long takes, visible footwork, and a camera that stays wide enough to let the choreography breathe. There's an early audition scene that plays like a mix of a sports tryout and a musical number, and it's electric. The rhythmic editing and a soundtrack that shifts between Hindi film samples and contemporary beats keep the two-hour runtime from dragging.

Ramakrishnan continues to prove she's one of the most naturally watchable young actors of her generation. She gives Maya a restless energy that masks deep insecurity, and she lands jokes without ever seeming to reach for them. Opposite her, Kedia is a quieter revelation - Anjali is the more disciplined and technically gifted dancer, and the script wisely gives her interiority rather than relegating her to sidekick status. The chemistry between the two leads carries the emotional weight of the film, which is crucial, because the screenplay's central argument is that friendship is worth more than any trophy.

Hasan Minhaj, playing the team's perpetually exasperated coach, gets the biggest laughs, though his character exists mostly to deliver exposition and tough love in equal measure. The supporting cast, including Chaneil Kular and Ankur Rathee as rival dancers with chips on their shoulders, round out the ensemble capably.

Where the film stumbles is in its structural familiarity. The underdog trajectory - ragtag group, humiliation, training montage, semifinal setback, final showdown - is followed almost beat for beat. There's a late-inning conflict between Maya and Anjali that feels manufactured rather than organic, designed to supply third-act tension that the story doesn't really need. A subplot about a rival team from a wealthier campus never fully develops, and a few emotional beats land with a thud because the dialogue leans on cliché rather than the honest observation that distinguishes the film's best moments.

Still, the good outweighs the formulaic. When "Best of the Best" lets its characters simply talk and dance, it soars. The final performance sequence is genuinely thrilling - the kind of set piece that makes you want to stand up and cheer. And underneath the competition drama, there's a thoughtful thread about what it means to be a young South Asian woman pursuing something joyful rather than something pragmatic, a tension the screenplay handles with a light, knowing touch.

Pros

• Explosive, well-choreographed dance sequences that showcase the real artistry of the fusion circuit
• Winning performances from Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia, whose chemistry anchors the film
• Smart, lived-in details about a subculture rarely seen on screen
• Hasan Minhaj's comic timing brings welcome levity
• A genuinely rousing finale

Cons

• A painfully predictable underdog-sports structure
• The central friendship conflict feels forced rather than earned
• Some dialogue relies on clichés the rest of the film is too smart for
• Underdeveloped rival subplot

"Best of the Best" doesn't reinvent the competition movie, but it fills familiar molds with so much warmth, humor, and cultural specificity that the formula hardly matters. Khan has made a film that will mean something real to audiences who have never seen their community's art form treated with this much respect on a mainstream stage, and she has done it without sacrificing laughs or heart. It's a little rough around the edges and a little too eager to please, but it earns its ovation. For a September release with genuine crowd-pleasing energy, this one is easy to recommend.