A delightful throwback to Disney’s great, original, live-action films of the past, “World’s Best” is the story of a New Jersey, middle-school-aged boy who goes to high school for math class because he is that smart when it comes to numbers and equations. But what Prem (rhymes with “name”) Patel (standout Manny Magnus) really wants is to become a hip-hop sensation like his late father Suresh (actor and rapper Utkarsh Ambudkar of TV hit “Ghosts”). Modest and terrifically executed by cast and crew, the film is a terrific piece of entertainment. When we first meet curly-haired, bespectacled Prem, he’s participating in a “Mathylimpics” contest and helping his team win right on the buzzer. He is reminded of one of his father’s mottoes, “The best never rest.” But it’s just a dream.

Rising at 6 a.m., Prem gazes at images of Leibniz, Newton and Ramanujan on his ceiling. Prem’s mom Priya (Prunam Patel, also TV’s “Ghosts”) encourages his math studies and other schoolwork. A school talent show beckons. In high school math class, Prem’s biggest rival is “Creepy” Claire (Piper Wallace), who uses an abacus to help solve problems, plays the cello and lives on a houseboat with her parents. Prem believes that his father was an emcee at a club called the Leopard Lounge across the Hudson in Manhattan. He dreams of becoming a rapper himself and uses a mathematical approach to writing lyrics that his father’s ghost (yes, ghosts, again) teaches him.

At school, Prem is bullied by two older boys. Prem’s friend Jerome (Max Malas) joins the bullies and becomes part of their dance team. Prem finds a box labeled Kuresh in his mother’s closet and goes through it. He finds his father’s rhyme journal. One of the teachers at school, Mr. Oh, is very eager to see Prem’s mother Priya. Mr. Oh is also in charge of the talent contest. Two of Prem’s friends from high school Mercedes (Kayla Njeri) and Beatboxer (Sura Uysal) drive Prem around in a vintage Volvo station wagon with a bobble-head figure of Gorn from “Star Trek” on the dash.

The screenplay by Ambudkar, who also produced and composed music, Jamie King (“Jessica Jones”) and Timothy Visentin (“It”) is funny, humane, sensitive to young people’s fears and desires and inventive. But the cast is the not-so-secret ingredient here. The multi-talented Magnus can act, sing and dance. As his mother, Patel is incredibly winning. And of course, as the imaginary Kuresh, Ambudkar has charisma and charm to burn. As Prem’s aptly-named high school math teacher Ms. Sage, Kathryn Greenwood is another asset. Director Rosan Sethi of the 2021 rom-com “Seven Days” does a fine job, especially with the young people. Doug E. Fresh plays himself and also delivered work for the soundtrack. We finally end up back at the Mathylimpics where we started , and while we have a good idea how this is all going, ahem, wrap up, “World’s Best” is a winner all the way.

(“World’s Best” contain mature themes and profanity)

Rated PG. On Disney+.