Netflix’s Best of the Best has sparked online criticism over Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s portrayal of an Indian Tamil character and a dialogue referencing the 2021 Kabul airport evacuation. The reactions have focused on questions of cultural representation and the use of a real-world tragedy as a punchline.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s latest Netflix film, Best of the Best, has generated discussion online following its release, with some viewers raising concerns about the film’s approach to South Asian representation and one of its jokes.
The coming-of-age comedy revolves around collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance and follows two childhood friends whose relationship is tested as they compete for a U.S. championship. Ramakrishnan plays Maya, while Priyanka Kedia plays Anjali.
Soon after the film premiered, sections of social media questioned the decision to cast Ramakrishnan, who is of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage, as a character associated with Indian Tamil culture and Indian classical dance traditions.
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Why Are Some Viewers Criticising Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s Character?
One of the main points of discussion has been Ramakrishnan’s portrayal of Maya. The character participates in a Bollywood-fusion dance competition and performs a sequence drawing on Indian classical dance.
Ramakrishnan herself is a Canadian actress of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage, and some viewers argued online that the film should have made a clearer distinction between Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil identities.
Several social-media users questioned the casting and accused the filmmakers of cultural misrepresentation. Some comments specifically argued that Indian Tamil characters should be played by performers with a closer connection to the particular community being represented.
Other reactions focused on the broader issue of representation in Western productions, including whether South Asian identities are sometimes treated as interchangeable despite differences between Indian, Sri Lankan and other South Asian communities.
These reactions represent individual social-media responses, rather than an established finding that the filmmakers intentionally misrepresented the Tamil community.
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Bharatanatyam and the Film’s Dance Representation
The criticism also extends to the film’s use of Indian classical dance.
Maya performs a dance sequence incorporating Bharatanatyam elements as part of the film’s broader Bollywood-fusion setting. Some viewers questioned how Indian classical forms were adapted for the fictional competition.
The discussion comes against a wider backdrop of debates surrounding the representation of South Asian cultural traditions in international entertainment. Questions around who performs specific cultural forms, how accurately those forms are presented and whether fusion performances clearly distinguish their influences have increasingly become part of online conversations about diaspora representation.
At the same time, Best of the Best is explicitly framed as a Bollywood-fusion dance comedy, rather than a documentary or a conventional depiction of classical Indian dance.
‘Last Plane Out of Kabul’ Dialogue Sparks Separate Backlash
A separate controversy emerged around one line delivered by Ramakrishnan’s character.
In the film, Maya says:
“Guys throw themselves at you like you’re the last plane out of Kabul.”
The line refers to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Some viewers, particularly those who connected the reference with the human cost of the Kabul evacuation, criticised the dialogue as insensitive. Social-media reactions argued that the events referenced in the joke involved people attempting to escape amid extreme danger and should not have been used as a comedic comparison.
The 2021 Kabul airport evacuation followed the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. The evacuation became particularly associated with images of desperate civilians attempting to leave the country, including people trying to cling to departing aircraft.
The airport was also targeted by an ISIS-K suicide bombing in August 2021, which killed civilians and U.S. service members.
Critics of the Best of the Best line therefore argued that the historical reference carries significant trauma for Afghans and others affected by the events.
The criticism has primarily emerged through online reactions, and there has been no indication in the material surrounding the controversy that the filmmakers intended the line as a commentary on Afghans themselves.
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What Is Best of the Best About?
Best of the Best is a coming-of-age comedy set within the competitive world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance.
Directed by Lena Khan, the film is written by Prashanth Venkataramanujam and Hasan Minhaj. The story follows childhood best friends Maya and Anjali as they pursue a place in the U.S. Championship while navigating friendship, ambition and the pressures surrounding competitive dance.
Ramakrishnan stars as Maya, with Priyanka Kedia playing Anjali.
The ensemble includes Ankur Rathee, Janina Gavankar, Chaneil Kular, Becky Alex, Shreya Navile, Hasan Minhaj, Lilly Singh, Nihar Duvvuri, Nico Greetham, Amryn Khurana, Tanishq Joshi, Saara Chaudry and Sasha Bhasin.
The film’s central premise gives it an opportunity to explore the experiences of South Asian characters and diaspora communities through comedy and dance. The online response, however, demonstrates how questions surrounding cultural identity and historical references can become particularly sensitive when they intersect with real communities and traumatic events.
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A Wider Conversation About South Asian Representation
The reaction to Best of the Best highlights two distinct issues rather than one single controversy.
The first concerns who gets to portray specific South Asian identities and cultural traditions, particularly when distinctions between Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil identities are important to viewers.
The second concerns the boundaries of comedy when it references real-world disasters and political violence. The Kabul line has drawn criticism from viewers who believe the historical context makes the joke inappropriate.
Neither issue necessarily represents the views of all viewers. The discussion remains largely driven by social-media reactions following the film’s Netflix release.
For Best of the Best, the controversy adds another layer to a film whose central subject is itself rooted in questions of South Asian identity, diaspora culture and the ways those experiences are represented through performance.
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