Ankur Rathee is currently being seen in Netflix’s Best of the Best, a South Asian dance drama led by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia, Chaneil Kular and Rathee. The film, which explores identity, ambition and friendship through the world of competitive South Asian dance teams in the US, has also marked a new phase in Rathee’s international career.
Ankur Rathee says Best Of The Best took him back to his college dancer days: “A version of myself I thought I had left behind”
Rather than focusing on his Hollywood debut, which was announced previously, the actor has now opened up about his experience of playing Ronak, the charismatic and competitive captain of UCLA’s South Asian dance team.
For Rathee, the role offered an opportunity to revisit a part of his own college experience. The actor was a member of South Asian and contemporary dance teams during his time at Princeton, and he drew from those experiences while portraying Ronak.
“What made Ronak particularly exciting was the opportunity to revisit a part of myself I hadn’t accessed in years. I was a college dancer, I’ve lived the intensity of these teams, and I remember what it felt like to be 22 and believe that charisma could carry you through anything,” Rathee said.
He added that playing someone significantly younger also required him to move away from some of the instincts he had developed over the years as an actor. “The challenge was to strip away the restrained performance instincts I’ve developed as an actor over the years and find that youthful arrogance, vulnerability and impulsiveness again. In many ways, Ronak took me back to a version of myself I thought I had left behind,” he said.
Rathee also spoke about bringing his experience of working in Indian cinema to a production rooted in South Asian culture. The film features Bollywood-inspired dance sequences, Hindi dialogue and cultural nuances that were familiar territory for the actor. He also dubbed his character in Hindi and Urdu for Netflix’s international release.
Reflecting on the wider experience, Rathee said, “I’ve spent the last decade building my career in India, working across film and streaming, so this opportunity feels like a meaningful evolution rather than a departure from where I come from.”
“To make my Hollywood debut with a film that is so deeply connected to the South Asian experience makes it even more special. I get to take everything I’ve learned as an actor in India and bring that perspective into a global production,” he added.
The actor also recalled his journey to landing the role, which involved multiple rounds of auditions and chemistry reads with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. Rathee said the final chemistry read allowed the two actors to improvise beyond the script and helped establish the dynamic between their characters.
“Working with Maitreyi was one of the most exciting parts of this experience. There was an immediate creative chemistry between us, and she brings such honesty, humor, and unbridled instinct to Maya. Our characters are constantly challenging each other, and that dynamic made the scenes incredibly alive,” Rathee said.
With Best of the Best, Rathee gets to draw from both sides of his experience, his years of work across Indian films and streaming and his own background as a college dancer. The actor has previously appeared in projects including The Tashkent Files, Thappad, Taish, Sarabha: Cry for Freedom, Shehzada, Four More Shots Please!, Made in Heaven, Undekhi and Inside Edge.
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