Story: After botching their performance at a high-school dance competition, two best friends get another shot at proving their skills in university. But not before some coming-of-age friction drives a wedge between them and tests their friendship. Review: Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) are BFFs who have practically grown up together, before moving in as roommates in UCLA. Growing up in the South Asian-American diaspora has ensured they are hooked on Bollywood and classical dance forms and music. But when their Bollywood-Classical fusion dance set goes horribly wrong during a high school dance-off, Maya goes viral as the ‘Drone Strike girl’, a nick-name that follows her to university. Determined to prove herself once more, she convinces Anjali to join her for the Bollywood dance club trials at uni. This club, which is not for noobs, calls itself Team Agni and has an eclectic mix of South Asians and one ‘token’ white kid in their troupe. Ronak (Ankur Rathee), the cute captain of the team, has his heart set on winning the ‘Best of the Best’ title, a national level collegiate Bollywood fusion dance championship. Even more so because he lost out to ex the year before. And that fits perfectly with Maya’s aim of not letting her earlier failure define her. But the script flips when Anjali is picked as the female lead for the dance competition (with a bit of vote adjustment that Maya happens to overhear) and Maya’s rebellious nature and a major goof-up ultimately gets her thrown out of the team by Ronak. That and a few other misunderstandings soon come between Maya and Anjali’s epic friendship.Directed by Lena Khan and written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujan, ‘Best of the Best’ blends in a friendship and sisterhood story with identity and the complexities of growing up in a South-Asian American diaspora, with some inside-jokes thrown in for good measure. The pressure to fit in, to succeed as imposed by immigrant parents, to find validation – all of it comes together to give this college-comedy film another layer. As the narrative reveals Maya is the difficult, brainy one who has often been sidelined and Anjali is the prettier, pleasant one who has always had it easy but just about gets by in her academics; this adds an underlying tension in their relationship. There is also Maya’s budding romance with Arjun (Chaneil Kular), which she seems to have mixed feelings about. Overall, the narrative remains consistently authentic and punchy. And beyond that ‘Best of the Best’ is an ode to bollywood, with some nostalgia meshed in with electrifying dance sequences stacked close enough to not let the pace dip. The music showcases a mash-up of iconic bollywood chartbusters like Bole Chudiya and Ghungroo to hip-hop and electronic beats, featuring artists like Jai Paul and Shashwat Sachdev. And adding to this high-energy, vibrant mix is the final dance track, Aamaasee, specially composed and sung by A.R.Rahman for the movie. Hasan Minhaj also steps in as the only university staff member, Professor Latif, who is the mature voice of reason at a crucial point. Chaneil Kular leaves an impression as the understated Arjun, Maya’s ardent cheerleader and conscience-keeper. Ankur Rathee is perfectly cast as the charming, college heartthrob. But above all it is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s spirited, feisty yet vulnerable act and Priyanka Kedia’s soft and pleasing outing as Anjali that shine through. On the whole, ‘Best of the Best’ keeps it breezy, humourous and is a thoroughly enjoyable and relatable college dance-comedy that gets all its beats in sync.
