With Roshan Sethi's new movie World's Best now streaming on Disney+, we were recently able to sit down with stars Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts; Free Guy) and newcomer Manny Magnus (I Want You Back; Home Team) to talk about their fun-filled rap musical.
The critically-acclaimed film tells the story of 12-year-old mathematics genius Prem Patel (Manny Magnus), who discovers that his recently deceased father Suresh (Utkarsh Ambudkar) was a famous rapper and decides to follow in his footsteps, learning more about his family and himself in the process.
In our conversation, Ambudkar, who also co-wrote the screenplay, wrote the songs, and executive produced the picture, tells me more about telling an authentic Indian story and crafting a soundtrack full of bangers, while Magnus explains his process behind becoming a rap star and living up to the film's mantra, "The World's Best never rests!"
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ROHAN: Knowing your story and how you initially came on the scene, what were elements that you wanted to take from your personal journey into writing the script for this movie?
UTKARSH: The story told itself, honestly, it just sort of came pretty organically. There were a few images that popped into my head, you know, Prem on the bridge with his head out the window looking up towards New York City as he goes to sort of see his father. And, then Jamie King, who wrote this - WGA strong - he really found a way to embody the familial element of it, and he's known me my whole life as a musician.
So, we're just really trying to tell a nuclear South Asian story with a Disney ethos where we can really feel some catharsis and some growth and feel a character who is just expertly played by Manny, feel Prem Patel - who's named after you, obviously - but to just feel his growth and see him accept himself and get some self esteem.
ROHAN: Acting and dancing are one thing, but rapping requires an entirely different skill set. What was that learning curve like for you?
MANNY: Yeah, I guess at that point, I hadn't rapped at all before, so it was just a lot of me just listening to the demo with my mom, and also, you know, Utkarsh gave me a couple of lessons before the recordings, Savan Kotecha really helped me out during the recordings, and yeah, I don't think I could have been able to do all the raps without them. And, I guess acting-wise, yeah, I just read the script as many times as I could, and just tried to like think as the character.
ROHAN: The songs in this movie are really, really good. They're authentically your style, while also staying true to our Indian roots. Can you tell me more about your approach in writing the music?
UTKARSH: Yeah, I just tried to make him the best rapper he could be, while still having it be something that Manny, as a newcomer, could master. So, some of the songs needed to be slowed down, like ‘World's Best,’ I think was like 25 BPM, if not 40 BPM faster. That song was like speed of light rap, and we just wanted to make great individual songs. Then, in terms of the South Asian energy, that Desi element, we trusted Raashi Kulkarni and Mr. Bontemps to score our film and in the composition, we really tried to have some of those elements in it because we are deeply proud of the Indian roots, but we didn't want that to be the sole reason that you were watching this movie, you know what I mean?
We didn't want to turn it into a niche Indians-only type of affair, but it is there and it informs the experience, the immigrant experience, the music is all there. It's informed by it in the score, in the composition. The music is just bangers, bro, I just wanted you to hear how great it is.
ROHAN: Between the acting, dancing, rapping - what did you find to be the most challenging aspect of playing Prem Patel?
MANNY: Yeah, so I think the hardest part was just the rapping. Since I'm already a hip hop dancer, the dancing in the movie wasn't too difficult. It was pretty easy, so yeah, I think it was just like the rapping aspect of it that I really had to work on.
UTKARSH: Man, he's a phenomenal dancer. That's what I learned. I learned how to move a little bit better, thanks to this movie. He's a hard one to keep up with, especially when you got creaky knees, but he's so good and, you know, learned how to hold the mic just so and he really, really makes this role shine.
ROHAN: I remember when you first really came on the scene with Pitch Perfect and, at that time, it was hard to imagine any studio taking a chance on a movie like World's Best, but a lot has changed since then and now we are seeing movies like this being made. What have you seen and/or experienced over the past decade that has opened doors for stories like this to be told?
UTKARSH: Yeah, look, 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, like I've definitely gone against type, the whole way. So, now for people like Sean Bailey at Disney and Allison Erlikhman, and folks who saw me in Freestyle Love Supreme or rap at the Oscars being like, that, 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.
And, then the miraculous thing, the amazing thing is the next generation, Manny's generation, his mother has supported his growth from day one, since he was five years old, his mother, Sarah, who's just incredibly loving and brings light to any room that she's in, has helped him foster this incredible talent of his and focus it in a way where now he can lead a Disney film, and do it on such a high level, where, you know, I was given an opportunity to tell a story, but the fact that he exists to embody it is, I mean, it just shows you how far we've come as a community.
ROHAN: Manny, this is your first leading role - what was your experience working with director Roshan Sethi as director and having Utkarsh & Punam Patel playing your parents? Did that chemistry immediately click?
MANNY: Yeah, I think it was just really - everyone was just really friendly and professional. It was great to work with everyone. Roshan is an amazing director. Every scene of the movie, you know, they don't feel boring or unnecessary, he just really guided everyone, and yeah, it was great.
In the midst of navigating the tumultuous hardships of adolescence, 12-year-old mathematics genius Prem Patel discovers his recently deceased father was a famous rapper and immediately sets out to pursue a career for himself as a rap superstar. While his recent actions may appear reckless and the quickest way for him to lose everything, Prem, empowered by imaginative hip- hop music-fueled fantasies where he performs with his father, is determined to find out if hip-hop truly is in his DNA. As his father always used to say, “the world’s best never rest.”