At 12, Prem Patel is a savant in math and even dreams about taking home the gold in the Mathlympics. He’s so smart that he’s one of the two middle school kids that get to take high school math classes.
Prem is raised by a single mother because his father passed away when he was five. While looking through some boxes, Prem finds a gold chain and a picture of his mother and father at a place called the Leopard Lounge and questions his mother about it. She reveals that Prem’s dad was nice on the mic and had ambitions to be the world’s best MC. Soon, Prem is having visions of his father talking to him so he decides to be a Rap superstar. And what could go wrong when a 12-year-old math wiz signs up for the middle-school talent show to be a rapper? As long as Prem follows his dad’s advice of “World’s best never rest,” he’s got this.
World’s Best is a family-friendly movie on Disney+ that focuses on the trials and tribulations of a South East Asian family in America. With the Hip Hop angle, World’s Best also validates the music and lifestyle of modern Hip Hop. Written by, executive produced, and starred in by Utkarsh Ambudkar, World’s Best crafts an authentic Indian story while also having a banging soundtrack.
Utkarsh said to the SF Gazette, “These opportunities didn't exist 10 or 15 years ago, for a number of reasons, right? The way the world was, the way the business was, the way the industry was. But, you know, for me, it's extremely validating because I've made, whether stupidly or not, I've sort of made a career about stepping away from the box and trying to carve my own lane as a musician, comedian, actor, freestyle rapper, dramatic actor. I've definitely gone against type, the whole way. So, now for folks who saw me in Freestyle Love Supreme or Rap at the Oscars being like we want you to do the thing that makes you special. We don't want you to fit into this computer program or box or this, you know, any other stereotype, we want you to just do what makes you special.”
Check out the trailer and the soundtrack for World’s Best below.
