Netflix has dropped the first look images for Best of the Best, the upcoming coming-of-age comedy set in the world of competitive collegiate Bollywood fusion dance. The film premieres globally on Netflix on September 18, 2026.
The film follows Maya and Anjali, two childhood best friends who join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, known for Never Have I Ever, leads the cast alongside Priyanka Kedia, Ankur Rathee, Janina Gavankar, Chaneil Kular, Becky Alex, Shreya Navile and Hasan Minhaj, who also co-wrote the screenplay and serves as producer. Additional cast includes Lilly Singh, Nihar Duvvuri, Nico Greetham, Amryn Khurana, Tanishq Joshi, Saara Chaudry and Sasha Bhasin.
The film is directed by Lena Khan, known for Flora and Ulysses and episodes of Never Have I Ever. The screenplay is co-written by Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, who also produce through their company 186K Films. Jonathan Eirich produces through Rideback, with Ellen H. Schwartz and Ryan Halprin serving as executive producers.
The project was originally set up at Amazon MGM under the title For The Culture before transitioning to Netflix.
Best of the Best premieres September 18 on Netflix.