In her film Best Of The Best, director Lena Khan masterfully blends Bollywood-inspired dance, music, and rich visual language to deliver a multi-layered story centered on friendship, identity, cultural pride, and self-approval.

Best of the Best is a high-energy dance comedy now streaming on Netflix, directed by Lena Khan and written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam. The story follows childhood best friends Maya and Anjali as they join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.

The film features choreography by Phillip Chbeeb and Makenzie Chbeeb, with co-choreography by Joya Kazi, and boasts a talented ensemble cast including Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia, Ankur Rathee, Janina Gavankar, Chaneil Kular, Becky Alex, Shreya Navile, and Hasan Minhaj, alongside additional appearances from stars like Lilly Singh, Nico Greetham, and more.

Lena Khan on her Multilayered Creative Vision and Dance as Storytelling

In a recent interview with Temple of Geek, Khan explained that rather than functioning strictly as a standard dance movie, Best Of The Best intentionally combines several genres into one cohesive experience. Noting that “there’s a friendship movie, there’s a competition movie, there’s a dance movie… there’s all the things in there”. To capture the authentic feel of growing up with Bollywood, Khan pursued an aspirational and elevated aesthetic. Explaining this visual goal, she stated, “Let’s make sure the clothes, the visual look, the richness, the quality of the dances is all aspirational for people who are watching… You want to be able to achieve that… It feels like it’s premium; it’s elevated.”

In Best of The Best, dance sequences are never used just for empty spectacle. Instead, every routine is deeply tied to the narrative arc and character development. Khan emphasized this approach, explaining, “The dances were all part of the storytelling journey… It wasn’t just how cool can we make this dance. It’s how do we most bring out that story point?” Choreography serves as a powerful medium for storytelling, reflecting pivotal emotional beats such as betrayal, vulnerability, the internal struggle for approval versus self-acceptance, and distinct character growth. By anchoring every movement to a deeper emotional and narrative purpose, Khan ensures that the film resonates as a heartfelt story about human connection, sincerity, and cultural celebration.

You can stream Best of the Best exclusively on Netflix.