World’s Best follows the story of Prem, a 12-year-old boy with gifted math skills, as he sets out to discover his talent in hip-hop and rap, and whether it truly runs in his DNA, like his father.
Written by Jamie King and Utkarsh Ambudkar and directed by Roshan Sethi, World’s Best stars Manny Magnus, Punam Patel, and Utkarsh Ambudkar in the lead roles.
World’s Best Story Summary
Prem (Manny Magnus), a twelve-year-old Indian boy, lives in America with her mother Priya (Punam Patel), who has been a single parent since the time when Prem was five. Prem’s father, Suresh (Utkarsh Ambudkar), passed away while fighting a battle with cancer.
Prem has an exceptional talent for solving math problems and is always the best in the class. In fact, his high caliber results in him getting promoted to a senior high for his math lessons, while he attends the other lessons at the junior school. Despite being the youngest in a lot of senior students, Prem continues to be the best in the class. Claire (Piper Wallace), another talented girl, is also promoted to the senior high, just like Prem. Although the two don’t get along very well, they are acclaimed by their teacher, Ms. Sage (Kathryn Greenwood), as “the dynamic duo”.
Prem starts preparing for the Mathlympics competition, as he becomes a part of the team with Claire, Mercedes (Kayla Njeri), and Gabe (Dorian Giordano). Mercedes and Gabe, who are senior students, soon become Prem’s friends. One day, he gets a homework assignment to form an equation of his life. He seeks his mother’s help for the same, as he wants to learn more about his father, to enable him to know himself better.
Priya Tells Prem About His Father
Although Priya does not like talking about Suresh as she feels it would prevent them from moving on, she agrees to tell Prem more about his father. When Prem asks his mother about a photograph of Suresh with her, she tells him the story of how she met Suresh for the first time at the Leopard Lounge.
Priya tells Prem that Suresh was an underground legend with his rap skills and used to perform during the ‘Tuesday Nights’ at the lounge. He was the best in the town and probably even the world’s best emcee. However, he never released albums or did not do tours as he did not seek validation from others. He knew that he was the best and that was all that really mattered to him. However, Prem is left curious and decides to open the box containing Suresh’s belongings and finds a rhyme book in the same.
He decides to keep this unboxing a secret from Priya. However, while going through the rhyme book, Prem starts seeing Suresh in his room. Although he knows he is not real, Prem starts talking to Suresh about his problems, as Suresh helps him figure things out. This conversation ultimately leads to Prem’s discovery of his talent as a potential emcee, just like his father.
World’s Best Ending Explained
Mercedes and Gabe are impressed by Suresh’s music when Prem makes them listen to the songs that Suresh had left on his iPod, which Prem found in the box. The two friends help Prem in discovering his talent and passion and even encourage him to participate in the talent show. As Prem starts preparing for the talent show, his entire focus is shifted to it as he slides away from the Mathlympics.
Sharn (Liam Wignall) and Brooklyn (Chris River), two students at Prem’s school who had failed several times in academics, bully Prem at the cafeteria one day, while Prem was practicing his rap skills for the competition. The two take away Suresh’s rhyme book and ask Jerome (Max Malas) to throw it in the trash can.
Although Jerome used to be Prem’s friend, he joined the bullies’ group to be perceived as cool. Just when he was about to throw the notebook in the trash, Claire manages to catch it and gives it to Prem. Prem takes the notebook from her and walks away after calling her Creepy Claire, just like the bullies use to call her.
Prem Discovers The Truth
Mr. Oh (Jake Choi), Prem’s former math teacher, comes to the cafeteria and calls Priya, as he finds Prem fighting the boys, while he was actually just trying to get back the notebook. Mr. Oh tells Priya that Prem fought with the boys over some notebook belonging to his father. Priya is shocked when she learns this and scolds Prem, telling him to focus only on his studies. She tells him that even his father would want him to study well and get a good job, instead of becoming distracted by hip-hop.
Prem decides to go to the Leopard Lounge with Mercedes and Gabe, as he tells them that if he wishes to become the world’s best emcee, he needs to go to the place where his father started. However, his hopes are shattered when they discover that the lounge is no longer popular and is barely even functional.
Prem asks one of the bartenders if they still do Tuesday Nights and whether he could perform there tonight. The bartender is able to recognize Prem as Suresh’s son and expresses his regret for what happened with Suresh. He goes on talking about Suresh to Prem, telling him how passionate Suresh was when it came to rap and hip-hop. He tells Prem about Suresh’s big dreams, which unfortunately never made it beyond his rhyme book. His dream of becoming the world’s best emcee never became a reality, as he continued his job as a bartender at that lounge.
Prem starts to lose hope as he thinks that his father failed and so would he. He leaves the box containing Suresh’s belongings at the door of Priya’s room. He tells Priya that he knows the truth now and asks her why she lied to him about his father being the world’s best emcee, an underground legend, when he was actually a failure. Prem lashes out at Priya when she says that everything that she said was true. Prem tells her that it means that she lied to herself and is still married to a fantasy that she created in her head.
Prem Learns A Lesson For Life
When Prem goes back to his room after the argument, he sees his father once again and tells him to leave him alone. Prem tells him that everything he taught him added up to nothing. Suresh tells Prem that life is not an equation. While he apologizes for not being around for his family, he tells Prem that his life would not have been picture perfect, even if he had his father around. He makes Prem realize that life is beautiful, only because of the struggles and challenges that make it so. Prem realizes that all this while, his father was not really there, and he does not need him to find the answer because there is no single right answer.
Prem goes to the talent show as a spectator and sits next to Claire. He apologizes to Claire for the comment he had made when she had actually helped him, and Claire forgives him. Sharn’s dance crew performs but Prem doesn’t find Jerome on stage. Their performance is ruined when the smoke gun gets dysfunctional, and the stage is filled with smoke.
Prem leaves the auditorium to find Jerome. He finds Jerome sitting alone and asks him if he was okay. Jerome tells Prem that the boys could’ve at least told him earlier, as he practiced all night for the performance. Jerome also tells Prem that he broke up with Amanda (Maya McNair), whom Jerome thought to be the love of his life, after she made out with Greg Li during an English class. Prem tells him that he would become an audience for Jerome and asks him to perform and just give it his best without caring about anything else. As Jerome performs, Prem cheers for his dear friend, giving Jerome the appreciation he needed.
Prem Chooses His Own Destiny
Prem shifts his focus to the Mathlympics once again and decides to quit hip-hop. Jerome and Prem become study buddies once again. Prem decides to start over with his mother too, as he returns the box with Suresh’s belongings to Priya. Priya finds a poem written for her, by Suresh, in his notebook, and she decides to let Prem live his life the way he wants. She takes a day off from work to go to a spot in Harlem with a killer open mic, but Prem tells her that his friends need him more at the moment, as he goes to the Mathlympics to do what he really loves.
Prem sees Suresh once again and ultimately finds out the answer to who he really is. While he is just a math guy, he is also an emcee. He is a hard worker and a fast learner and tries to keep things real. He realizes that he is a thinker like his mother and a dreamer like his father and that he is just getting started.
Prem’s team manages to not come last at the Mathlympics, as they win the third position in the competition. Claire also gifts an alpaca wool sweater to Prem, as she noticed he liked large clothing, and the two become good friends. Just when Prem is about to leave the place, he finds a group of senior students rapping. When they ask him to show them what he got, Prem gets the seniors vibing with him, while Priya and Suresh look at their son from a distance. It looks like Prem has finally discovered that he can be the “World’s Best” at whatever he chooses to do if he puts his mind to it.
World’s Best is available for streaming on Disney+.
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