When Best of The Best Takes Older Gen Zs Back to the D3 and ABCD Era

There is something strangely nostalgic about waiting to watch Best of The Best if you grew up as an older Gen Z in India.

In simple words, the yet to be released Best of The Best is a comedy on the Indian diaspora set in the world of collegiate Bollywood dance competitions. The film might belong to a completely different moment and a completely different format, but its energy from the trailer feels oddly familiar — the friendships, the rivalries, the dramatic performances, and that feeling of watching young people chase something together.

For a generation that grew up on Dil Dosti Dance and Any Body Can Dance, it can feel like stepping back into an era once left behind.

Dil Dosti Dance better known as D3, was the first dance-based fiction show on Indian television and one of the longest-running youth-oriented shows of its time, spanning four years and 857 episodes in Hindi.

Back then during 2011-2015, D3 wasn’t simply another youth show. It was an entire mood.

It captured a version of teenage and early-twenties life that became part of growing up for an entire generation. It pushed back the otherwise usual soap operas and was an instant hit. The characters, their rehearsals, college friendships, dance battles, romances, the performances, and endlessly quotable moments— all of it made the show feel like its own little universe.

And then came the ABCD movies.

Released in 2013, 2016 and 2020 Any Body Can Dance I & II and its 3rd part Street Dancer felt like a revolution of their own. These Bollywood films with mostly new faces, were inspired from real life stories. It brought together dance, talent, passion, teamwork, redemption and the dream of winning a championship.

And that’s why Best of the Best might resonate so deeply hitting all three nostalgic notes: dil, dosti, and pure dance.

Best of The Best trailer brings back the feeling of discovering a group of young students who are wonderful dancers getting invested in their stories, rooting for friendships, forming opinions about the rivalries and romances probably. It focuses on Desi/Bollywood-fusion collegiate competitions in North America (UCLA).

It is a feeling older Gen Z knows very well. And this little new universe can be experienced on Netflix on September 18th, 2026.

Best of The Best isn’t exactly about recreating D3 or ABCD. It is about recreating the feeling of that era. An era when dance wasn’t just choreography filmed on a screen. It was emotion, friendship, passion, ambition, competition, romance, college life… All wrapped into one story.

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