'Our trauma isn't your punchline': Netflix's Best of the Best faces backlash over Kabul evacuation joke

Netflix's new Bollywood-influenced film Best of the Best has sparked backlash over a joke about the chaotic 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, with viewers accusing its makers of turning one of the country's most traumatic recent episodes into a punchline.

The comedy dance movie, which began streaming on Netflix on 18 September, includes a scene in which lead character Maya, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, tells a friend: "Guys throw themselves at you like you're the last plane out of Kabul."

One social media user directly addressed co-writer Hasan Minhaj on X, writing: "You should be embarrassed, Hasan Minhaj. Explain the joke."

"Is the funny part the Afghans falling from planes? The terrified families at the airport? The people desperately trying to escape the Taliban?" the post continued. "Our trauma isn't your cheap punchline."

Others called on Netflix and the filmmakers to acknowledge the backlash and apologise.

The anger centres on the scenes that unfolded at Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021, when thousands of Afghans rushed to escape the country as Taliban forces entered Kabul.

Footage from the airport showed hundreds of people running alongside a US Air Force C-17 transport aircraft as it taxied along the runway, with some clinging to the outside of the plane.

At least two people were reported to have fallen from the aircraft after it took off, including Zaki Anwari, a member of Afghanistan's national youth football team.

The evacuation continued amid deadly scenes at and around the airport. Images of people clinging to departing aircraft and the aftermath of an Islamic State suicide bombing outside the airport became defining images of the crisis.

The final US military flight left Kabul shortly before midnight on 30 August, bringing America's two-decade military presence in Afghanistan to an end. More than 100,000 people were evacuated during the operation, while many Afghans seeking to leave were left behind.

Best of the Best follows childhood friends Maya and Anjali as they join UCLA's competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team.

The film was directed by Lena Khan and written by Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam.

The New Arab has contacted Netflix, Khan, Minhaj and Venkataramanujam for comment on the backlash but did not receive any response at the time of publication.