Netflix star calls out Indian Hollywood representation
What's the story
Priyanka Kedia, a 24-year-old British actor of Indian origin, believes that South Asian representation in Hollywood has evolved beyond just being seen on screen. She stars in Netflix's Best of the Best alongside Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The movie is a coming-of-age comedy set in the competitive world of Bollywood-fusion dance at college. It was penned by comedian Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam and directed by Lena Khan.
Representation views
'A film where our identity is not the joke'
Kedia told HT City, "We all have this common experience of growing up seeing ourselves represented as the butt of the joke."
"To have a film where our identity is not the joke, it's not the punchline, but just who we are and the things that we go through have nothing to do with it, that's important."
"That's not the central part of who we are as people."
Universal appeal
'We're allowed to be messy, we're allowed to be great'
Kedia, known for Everything to Me (2024) and Disclosure Day (2026), further emphasized, "We're allowed to be messy, we're allowed to be great, we're allowed to be silly, we're allowed to be complex, and that is really important."
"And the joy and the comedy it has is universal. It's not just, 'Oh, you're Indian, haha.'"
Role preparation
The actor trained in Bharatanatyam for the film
Kedia trained in Bharatanatyam for her role in the film.
She revealed that she and Ramakrishnan weren't classically trained dancers but had a great choreography team.
"We went through a lot of intense training...I danced a little bit growing up, but neither of us are classically trained, but we had an amazing choreography team."
"It was a really beautiful experience."
Meanwhile, Best of the Best was released on September 18 on Netflix.