Ankur Rathee Makes His Hollywood Feature Film Debut with Netflix’s Best of the Best

The actor stars alongside Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia and Chaneil Kular in Netflix’s South Asian dance drama

Mumbai, September 28th, 2026: Netflix’s Best of the Best is now the No.1 Movie Worldwide on Netflix, and it marks Indian actor Ankur Rathee’s Hollywood feature film debut with this South Asian dance drama. The film, led by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia, Ankur Rathee and Chaneil Kular explores identity, ambition, friendship and the vibrant world of South Asian competitive dance teams in the US.

Over the past decade, Ankur Rathee has established himself as a versatile actor across Indian film and streaming, with performances in films including The Tashkent Files, Thappad, Taish, Sarabha: Cry for Freedom and Shehzada. He has also been part of several acclaimed streaming titles, including Four More Shots Please!, Made in Heaven, Undekhi, Inside Edge, Eternally Confused and Eager for Love and Netflix’s Single Papa. His Hollywood debut with Netflix’s The Best of the Best now marks the next chapter in a career that has moved between mainstream Hindi cinema, streaming and international storytelling.

In Best of the Best, Ankur plays Ronak, the charismatic and fiercely competitive captain of UCLA’s South Asian dance team. A larger-than-life figure who has built his identity around his team and its success, Ronak embodies the confidence, ambition and youthful intensity of a college dance captain, while also confronting the vulnerability beneath that persona. Playing a character nearly ten years younger than himself, Rathee drew from his own experiences as a member of South Asian and contemporary dance teams at Princeton.

Speaking about the experience, Ankur Rathee says, “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, “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. 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.”

The role also allowed Ankur to bring his experience of working within Bollywood to a Hollywood production deeply rooted in South Asian culture. From the film’s dance sequences and Bollywood-inspired moments to its Hindi dialogue and cultural nuances, his lived experience became an organic part of his performance. Rathee also dubbed Ronak himself in Hindi and Urdu for Netflix’s international release, bringing an additional layer of cultural authenticity to the character.

His journey to the film was equally unconventional. After initially being considered too old for the role, Ankur was called back for multiple rounds of auditions, including chemistry reads with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, eventually securing the part while simultaneously shooting in Bangkok. The final chemistry read saw the two actors improvising and pushing the scene beyond the script, a moment Rathee recalls as the point when the creative connection clicked. About working with her, Ankur says, “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.”

For Ankur, The Best of the Best represents more than a crossover into Hollywood. The film offers a contemporary portrayal of the South Asian diaspora, one that moves beyond familiar stereotypes to present young South Asians as ambitious, glamorous, culturally rooted and aspirational. The film also reflects the evolution of the South Asian competitive dance circuit, bringing together influences and traditions from across India and the wider South Asian community.