Hasan Minhaj on “Best of the Best” and bringing his culture to Netflix

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When you think of comedian Hasan Minhaj, most people naturally go toward politics, especially considering his Emmy and Peabody-award winning work on The Daily Showand Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. But as Minhaj told Newsweek, his latest work hits closer to home.

“I think this would be both a really fun world to explore, but also I think something that’s really meaningful to a community of people that have articulated their love of their culture through dance in this really beautiful way,” Minhaj says about Netflix’s Best of the Best, which Minhaj produced and co-wrote, in addition to co-starring in. The film follows two Indian American best friends who compete in college Bollywood dance competitions. Directed by Lena Khan, the film stars Priyanka Kedia and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

“It turns out Best of the Best, Legends, DDN [Desi Dance Network)] these are still these huge national competitions that still exist to this day, but have grown and exploded since then,” Minhaj says of the real circuit that inspired the story. As for the film’s central relationship, he’s blunt about the stakes: “It’s really, really about sisterhood and their friendship. And will that bond last.”

This new direction for Minhaj is less surprising than you might think, says Minhaj.

“For me and what I’ve always tried to do in my career is, how do I mine every part of myself and put it into my work,” he says.

While Minhaj might be stretching his wings creatively, he still has his feet planted in much of the political commentary we’ve come to expect from him, particularly with his podcast Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know.

“What I’m seeing is a generation of young South Asians and people of many different races articulating an affirmative vision of humanity on their own terms,” Minhaj says of Best of the Best being exactly in line with his body of work. “And I don’t think there’s anything more badass than that.”

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