Mumbai: For Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, acting is not simply about portraying fictional characters. The actor says one of the most fulfilling aspects of her profession is the chance to experience lives, cultures and skills that she might otherwise never encounter.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Ramakrishnan opened up about her work in Netflix’s Best of the Best and the experience of learning Bharatanatyam for the project.
The actor said that stepping into unfamiliar worlds is one of the aspects of acting she values most.
“As an actor, to be able to step into the shoes of multiple lives and learn skills that you otherwise never would.”
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on learning Bharatanatyam
Ramakrishnan revealed that her previous experience with dance was limited. She said she had not grown up attending extensive dance classes, although she had spent about a year learning Bharatanatyam.
Taking on the classical Indian dance form for the film therefore presented a significant challenge.
“I didn’t grow up learning dance and going to classes except for my one year of Bharatanatyam. It was rough. It is insane,” the actor said.
Despite the difficulty, Ramakrishnan described the experience as deeply valuable. Learning the form gave her an opportunity to understand not only the physical demands of the performance but also the cultural environment surrounding it.
Why Bharatanatyam became important to her
For Ramakrishnan, the preparation extended beyond simply learning choreography for the camera.
She credited the film’s creative team and Netflix for allowing the cast to spend substantial time immersed in the world represented in the story.
Describing the opportunity as a “true gift”, she said the experience enabled the actors to develop a new skill while working alongside people with deep knowledge and expertise.
“It was a true gift that the rest of the creative team and our folks at Netflix gave us, to be able to acquire a skill and immerse ourselves not only so deeply into this world, but so deeply, truly surrounded by some of the best of the best.”
The experience also exposed Ramakrishnan to people and traditions she might not otherwise have encountered through her career or personal life.
Acting allows Maitreyi to explore unfamiliar worlds
The Best of the Best experience appears to have reinforced Ramakrishnan’s view of acting as an opportunity for personal discovery.
She explained that learning Bharatanatyam allowed her to meet new people and engage with a tradition that has developed over centuries.
“I don’t know how else, in any other timeline of my life, in any other occupation, where I would have been able to do that while also getting to meet so many other people,” she said.
For the actor, that process of discovery is one of the less tangible but meaningful rewards of working on a film.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan says characters remain the biggest reward
While acquiring a new skill and entering an unfamiliar cultural world proved significant, Ramakrishnan ultimately identified the opportunity to portray compelling characters as the central attraction of acting.
She described receiving complex and interesting roles as an “actor’s dream”.
“The whole concept of getting this huge gift of great characters, that is really the best part. It’s the actor’s dream.”
Her comments offer an insight into how she approaches performance: preparation is not limited to memorising lines or understanding a script, but can involve acquiring skills and spending time within worlds that are unfamiliar to the performer.
What is Best of the Best?
Best of the Best is a Netflix film featuring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan alongside Priyanka Kedia and Hasan Minhaj.
The project gave Ramakrishnan an opportunity to explore a character connected to a world in which Bharatanatyam plays an important role.
The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
For Ramakrishnan, the project has also become an example of how acting can provide opportunities to learn outside the boundaries of one’s everyday experience.
Her Bharatanatyam training may have been demanding, but the actor’s reflections suggest that the process became an important part of connecting with the film and its characters.
