What do you get with one part Bollywood, an amalgamation of Bring It On (2000), Step Up (2006), and Pitch Perfect (2012), and some hints of clever writing? This crazy combination results in Best of the Best (2026). Honestly, I have no idea if there is a previous movie of the same title, but when I put it into Google, a myriad of possible production years appeared in the search bar. I am also unsure why I chose this one other than my desire for lighter cinematic fare and impatience with indecision and constant scrolling. At the same time, I delight in various cultures, which is not an inaccurate way of describing the Catholic Church as a whole. More about that topic later. In the meantime, I give you a movie about college-level South Asian dance competitions.

Best of the Best begins with lifelong best friends Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) preparing for what should be the triumphant finale of their high-school years: a Bollywood-fusion dance at a talent show. Instead, a drone used in the scenery smacks Maya in the face, the humiliating moment goes viral, and she arrives at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) already known around campus as “Drone Strike Girl.” Maya, an ambitious scholarship student, wants to reinvent herself, while the more easygoing Anjali is under strict orders from her mother to concentrate on academics after barely getting into UCLA. Both therefore intend to leave competitive dance behind. That resolution lasts until they watch Agni, UCLA’s Bollywood-fusion team, perform. Anjali immediately develops an interest in handsome captain Ronak (Ankur Rathee), while Maya sees a chance to replace her viral humiliation with something worth remembering. The friends audition and make the team, where they meet dancers including Deepica (Shreya Navile), Dimple (Becky Alex), and Harry (Nico Greetham), the white member whose command of Hindi and South Asian culture occasionally exceeds that of his teammates. Maya also reconnects with Arjun (Chaneil Kular), an awkward student who becomes her romantic interest. Agni has plenty of talent but has never won the national competition from which the movie gets its title, and Ronak is determined to change that. When the team votes on leads for its wedding-themed routine, Maya receives the most votes for the female role. Ronak, Deepica, and Dimple, however, manipulate a tie and install Anjali instead because they think she possesses more “lead energy.” Maya overhears the maneuver but, seeing how thrilled Anjali is, keeps it to herself. She channels her frustration into elaborate ideas for the routine, including an over-the-top wedding palanquin, only for Ronak to reject her attempts to change his tightly controlled choreography. Maya nevertheless brings the prop to a competition, where its fog machine and flower petals create chaos. Agni tumbles to fifty-fourth place, and Ronak removes Maya from the team. Anjali, increasingly absorbed in Ronak and her new social circle, does not defend her as strongly as Maya expects. Arjun encourages Maya and tells her she should have been lead all along, while also urging her to tell Anjali what really happened with the vote. Maya refuses because she does not want to destroy her friend’s happiness. Agni still has a mathematical path to nationals if it performs well in its next contest at Berkeley. However, the trip costs money, leading the South Asian Students Association to hold a date auction. Anjali convinces Ronak to let Maya return if Maya participates, and Maya reluctantly agrees. At the same time, Anjali’s grades are slipping. She asks Maya to complete an online quiz for her, but Maya becomes distracted and forgets, helping push Anjali onto academic probation and costing her the lead position. Maya replaces her, an outcome that looks suspiciously convenient from Anjali’s perspective even though it was accidental. Agni eventually recovers in the standings, but success only deepens the tension. Maya enjoys finally shedding the “Drone Strike” label and receives increasing attention, while Anjali feels abandoned by the friend who once pushed her onto every stage. Maya’s relationship with Arjun also deteriorates after he sees a video of her dancing drunkenly with Ronak and assumes the worst. Matters finally explode after an interview in which Maya tries to defend Anjali but instead leaves the impression that her friend is academically deficient and a weaker dancer. Anjali confronts Maya, accusing her of sabotaging the quiz and stealing the lead. Maya retaliates by revealing the truth about the original vote and admitting how exhausting it has been to watch Anjali receive affection and approval so effortlessly while she has to fight for any kind of notice. Anjali quits the team, and the friendship that has defined both women since childhood appears finished. Maya soon recognizes that becoming lead has not made her a leader. Her obsession with proving herself to strangers on the internet has caused her to neglect the people who actually care about her, a realization reinforced by Arjun and by Professor Hamza Latif (Hasan Minhaj). Maya apologizes, and the team begins rebuilding around something more collaborative than Ronak’s rigid vision. Their final routine at Best of the Best becomes an extravagant story about reclaiming the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Britain, mixing Bollywood spectacle, multiple South Asian dance traditions, and a comic heist narrative. Anjali returns, and Maya makes room for her friend rather than treating the championship as one more chance to occupy the spotlight. The two rediscover the joy of performing together, and Agni finally wins the national championship despite a technical mishap. As for Anjali and Maya’s friendship, it survives the growing pains that nearly destroyed it. And what better way to rebuild it than by sharing a post-victory meal at Taco Bell?

Best of the Best therefore reaches the destination promised by its familiar ingredients: the underdogs win, the friends reconcile, and dance solves problems that ordinary conversation could not. Yet beneath all the glitter is a worthwhile idea for this Catholic reviewer. Maya and Anjali spend much of the film measuring themselves against other people’s approval, only to discover that neither a trophy nor popularity can substitute for recognizing the incredible gift of one another. For a movie built around competition, its best step may be realizing that another person’s success does not have to diminish your own. While Jesus did not talk about salvation in such terms, He came into the world out of love for all of us. Christian charity therefore calls us to will the good of our fellow human beings, even when doing so requires us to set aside our own pride and self-interest. Ultimately, the highest form of charity is to love God above all things and to love our neighbor for His sake. This is the realization Anjali and Maya come to about one another, setting aside their differences for the benefit of the other. It is where they had been in the beginning, and they needed to be tested in order to understand this truth. In the introduction, I hinted at how this kind of cooperation is an aspect of Catholicism. While these two friends come from a similar cultural background, they are different people who find what I would call a Christian way of coexisting. Granted, some of their behavior is not ideal, but then again, who is sinless? Further, they are contrite about their transgressions toward one another, which is key for disparate people to get along. Catholicism is this concept writ large. The Catholic Church contains a remarkable variety of cultures and traditions while remaining united in the same Faith and communion. There are six major liturgical traditions within Catholicism: Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Byzantine, Chaldean, and Latin. The Church also consists of twenty-four autonomous, or sui iuris, Churches, all in communion with Rome, with the Latin Church being by far the largest and the one to which I belong. The point being, and we see this with Agni as a whole, never mind its American setting, that it is possible for many individuals and groups to coexist and do something amazing together.

Then again, “amazing” is not what I would call Best of the Best. All those films from which it takes its cues kind of made the story predictable. Nonetheless, there are some pretty good one-liners that made this one at least passable.