1.

1 INT. BLACK 1
Opening credits kick in.

AMEER (V.O)
Ente achan oru bank-ile clerk
aayirunnu. Pullik oru cinemakkaran
akanam enn aayirunnu agraham. Pakshe
veetile prarabhtham okke karanam
cinemede porake nadakaam samayam
kiteela paavathinu... Athukond
kittiya joli cheyth jeevichu. Jolikk
edayilum cinemayil keraan onnu rand
shramangal okke nadathi... pakshe
onnum nadanilla. Angana cinemayil
keraan pattatha vishamam karanam
achan kallu kudi thudangi. Angana
kudich kudich, enikk pathinezh vayas
undayirunnapo, achan liver cirrhosis
vannu marichu. Cheruppam thotte
achane pole enikkum cinema pranth
thudangiyatha. Njan oru cinemakkaran
aayi kaananam enn velya agraham
aayirunnu pullikk. Pakshe ammakk
pedi aayirunnu, cinemede purake
nadannu achante avastha enikkum
varum ennu. Athukond enne konda oru
engineering college-il cherthu.
Degree kitti. Joli kitti. Pakshe
manasamadhanam kitteela. Athukond
joleem kalanj, amede eduthu
vazhakkum ittu nere erangi, with one
goal in mind -- acahanu
sambhavichath enikk sambhavikaan
paadilla. I want to be a filmmaker.
(sighs)
And now I'm here.
Credits end.
We hear the sound of a phone buzzing.
CUT TO:

2 INT. LIVING ROOM (APARTMENT BUILDING) - MORNING (8:33 AM) 2

The buzzing continues.
AMEER, a man in his early 30s, lies on a couch, asleep.
The buzzing wakes him up.
 2.

Reveal - his phone's alarm BUZZING.

Ameer's hand stretch to turn off the alarm.
He sits on the couch, trying to orient himself.
He has a pale face and puffy eyes -- he hasn't slept well in
a while.
Ameer slightly twitches his neck... grunts... and gets on his
feet.
CLINK. His feet touches an empty beer bottle on the floor.
The floor is messy -- with stubbed cigarettes... leftovers of
store bought food... few crumpled up A4 papers... and a
LAPTOP.

3 INT. BATHROOM - MORNING 3

Ameer stands peeing inside the toilet.
He yawns.
He stops peeing... closes his pants' zip.

4 INT. LIVING ROOM - MORNING 4

CLOSE UP on the LAPTOP. Ameer picks it up and walks towards -
-- the bedroom.

5 INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 5

Ameer enters and sits at a table.

QUICK CUTS: Ameer places the laptop on the table and inserts
the charger cable into it... He turns on the charger and
opens the laptop.
His laptop wallpaper is a big picture of Quentin Tarantino
with his quote by the side : "If you just love movies enough,
you can make a good one."
The wall behind Ameer is covered with posters of various
critically acclaimed films from all over the world.

CLOSE UP on Ameer's face. He stares blankly at the laptop

screen.

Reveal the laptop screen – A screenplay is opened in MS Word.

The first page reads:
 3.

"A SWORD OVER THE HEAD

Written by
Ameer"

Ameer scrolls through the script. There are around 60 pages.

He reaches the bottom of the script and opens a new blank
page.

He stares at the laptop screen.

He types in "INT. RAVI'S ROOM - AFTERNOON"

Ameer stares at the text cursor.

A beat.
In the next line, he types "CLOSE UP on the face of Ravi"

He stares. Clicks his tongue. He deletes the line.

He sighs deeply.

He taps his fingers on the table.

SERIES OF SHOTS:

-- Ameer sits with his finger tips together, rapidly shaking

his legs

-- Ameer slowly feels the keyboard keys with his fingers. He

badly wants to type something.
-- Ameer scratches his chin... he rests his chin over his
hands
-- Ameer rubs his eyes, he is tired of staring at the laptop
screen.

-- Ameer walks around the room, thinking and rubbing his

palms.

-- Ameer sits clicking a pen. His laptop is closed. Few A4

size papers lie on the table.
Ameer writes on the paper "INT. RAVI'S ROOM"

-- Ameer scratches his head.

-- Ameer tries to fidget his pen, fails.

-- Ameer writes a few sentences. clicks his tongue. He

strikes off everything that he wrote. He crumples the paper
 4.

and throws it on the floor.

-- Ameer rubs his face.

END SERIES OF SHOTS.

He drops the pen on the table and gets up.

6 INT. KITCHEN - DAY (9:48 AM) 6

Ameer, with a toothbrush in his mouth, opens the fridge and

stares inside for a while.

He takes out an egg from the fridge.

He closes the fridge and walks to the kitchen drawer. He

opens the drawer to find a pack of bread slices.

He takes out the pack.

CUT TO:
Ameer breaks the egg into a steel cup -- Some part of the egg
yolk falls outside the cup.

The kitchen sink -- there's a few dirty dishes.

Ameer takes out a plate from the sink, lazily washes it and
places it near.
CUT TO:

The omelette is getting prepared in the stove.

He places a few bread slices on the plate.

He gets back to the stove and reaches his hand to the salt
container kept by the side of the stove.

He accidentally touches the edge of the HOT pan. He lifts his

hand, making the pan fall to the floor.

AMEER
Fuck!

He quickly turns off the stove. Then looks at his omelette --

on the floor.

He picks the omelette and places it on the plate.

CUT TO:
 5.

7 INT. BEDROOM - DAY (10:18 AM) 7

Ameer sits at his table and starts eating bread slices from
his plate while watching an interview of Quentin Tarantino on
the laptop.
CUT TO:

The clock on the wall reads 11:22 AM. The empty plate lies on
the table.
Ameer smokes a cigarette and slouches on his chair, staring
at the laptop screen.
A web article about Screenwriting Tips is opened in the
laptop.

He closes the article and opens his script file.

Sighs.

He looks up at three posters on the wall -- of Quentin

Tarantino, Anurag Kashyap and Bong Joon-ho.

AMEER
How the fuck do you people do this?
He stares at the posters for a few seconds.

On a SUDDEN -- he gets a call on his phone. He looks at the

caller ID. He puts out the cigarette and attends the call.

The person on the other side of the call is JESSIE (30s)

AMEER
Aah.

JESSIE
Eda nee Innu free aano?
AMEER
entha?
JESSIE
Njan oru aaru mani aakumbo office-
een erangum. Nammak onnu porathu
poyaalo? To a restaurant or
something.

AMEER
Poratho... Script ezhuthaan und.

JESSIE
 6.

Nee oru MAASAM aayitt ezhuthi konde

irikuvalle... You need a break

AMEER
Edi I'm so close. Ee script onnu
theeratte... I don't want any
distractions.

JESSIE
Ninne onnu kanaan vendi alle njan
parayane... enthuvaada nee ingana...
Ninne okke Keri pranayikaan thonniya
enne venam parayaan

AMEER
Athusheri... Ente script-inu state
award-o national award-o okke kitti
kazhiyumbo ithu thanne
parayanotto...

JESSIE
(sarcastic)
national award mathiyo? Oru Oscar
engilum vende?

AMEER
Onnu podo...

JESSIE
Nee aa room-eenn vellappozhokke
porath erangu. Eth neravum script
enn paranj nadakkalle... There's
more to life.
AMEER
Tsk... I'm fine this way

JESSIE
Nee ingana onnum aayirunnilla

The doorbell rings.

AMEER
Njan pinne vilikaam, aaro door-il
vannittund...

JESSIE
Araa?

AMEER
ariyilla nokatte
JESSIE
Eppa vilikkum?
 7.

AMEER
(annoyed)
Eppozhelum vilikaam!

The doorbell rings again, twice.

JESSIE
Athinu enthina dheshyapedane?
AMEER
Dheshyapettillallo...

JESSIE
Pinne ippo "Eppozhelum vilikaam" enn
paranjappo dheshyapettille?

AMEER
Onnu pokke, Njan door-ilu araann
nokatte
Ameer hangs up the call.

Doorbell rings again.

He stands up and walks towards the living room.

8 INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 8

Ameer opens the door to reveal -- UNCLE, a man in his 50s --
an unpleasant surprise for Ameer.

AMEER
Aah... entha ivide?
UNCLE
Entha enikk vannoode?

AMEER
Alla... akathu vaa...
(Kid comes to give fish cutlet.)

KID
Fish cutlet. Ammem njanum
undakiyatha
AMEER
(fakes a smile)
Aah
(Hands over.)

(Notices solved rubick's cube on floor)

 8.

KID
Aa rubick's cube araa solve cheythe?
AMEER
Atho? Njanaa
KID
Ente veetilum und. Pakshe enikku
solve cheyaan ariyathilla...

AMEER
Oh...
He just wants the kid to leave.

AMEER
enna sheri..
Kid smiles and nods.

Ameer closes the door.

After a beat, SNAP! An idea struck Ameer's head.

QUICK CUTS: -- Ameer opens his laptop -- opens his script

Ameer slowly starts typing.
His hand gradually picks up speed.

We get different shots while he is typing.

(mom's call comes in between, doesn't pick up)

He eventually fills up the entire page. He exhales deeply and

lays back his chair.
CUT TO:

Ameer stands in the middle of the room. He dials a number on

his phone. The phone rings. The person on the other side of
the phone is HARI (30s)
HARI
Ahda para

AMEER
Nee therakilaano?
HARI
Alla alla, entha karyam?
 9.

AMEER
Eda ente script-nte first draft
finish aayi. Nee onnu vayichitt
engana undenn parayaamo? Njan ninak
mail cheythittund
HARI
Eth? Aa gangster katha aano?

AMEER
Aah
HARI
(excited)
Nice, nice... I can't wait to read.
Njan vayichitt vilikaam
AMEER
Aah. Pattoongi innu thanne vayichu
theerkane...
HARI
Aahda, sure.

Ameer hangs up.

Ameer dials another number. Phone rings. It's Jessie on the
other side.
JESSIE
Hello entha?
AMEER
Aah... I was thinking of going out
with you today

JESSIE
Wait... sherikum? Appo script
ezhuthande ninak?

AMEER
Script-nte first draft ippa ezhuthi
theerthe ollu. So... you coming with
me?

JESSIE
aaru mani
AMEER
Ok poli. See you at six.

WOMAN
Yeah... varuvallolle?
 10.

AMEER
vannirikkum!

CUT TO:
Ameer's phone rings. He picks it up.

HARI
Eda njan vayichu..
AMEER
Engana und?

HARI
Basic premise kollaam. Pakshe kore
prashnangal und. aadhyam thanne, nee
ithu kurachu koodi engaging akaan
nokaamo? Kore scenes okke veruthe
valich neeti vachekana pole thonni.
AMEER
Oh... athu sheri akaam

HARI
Aah, Pinne ninte nayagante thalede
melil oru sword float cheyunna aa
scene ille?

AMEER
Ah, athu njan oru metaphor aanu
udheshiche...
HARI
Aah, athu manasilaayi. But aa scene
kurach out of place alle ennoru
samshyam.
AMEER
Oh.

HARI
and... ninte main villain.
Orumathiri balaramyil okke kaanunna
polathe oru villain aayi poyi.
ayaalku oru clear motivation illa.
He's just bad because he's bad.
That's not how people are in real
life. Aa charcter-inu kurachu koodi
depth kodukku...

AMEER
Ah, (clears throat) I'll work on
that.
 11.

HARI
And one last thing, aa ending
orumathiri Scarface-nte ending rip-
off cheytha pole thonni.
AMEER
Scarface-eenu kurach inspiration
eduthittundayirunnu...
HARI
Aah chummathayalla... Scarface okke
orupaadu peru kanditullatha man.
Aarum ithuvare kanaathe oru ending
ezhuthu. Audience-ine surprise
cheyy... By the way, no offense tto.
I was just sharing my thoughts...

AMEER
Eyy... I'm not offended. (But we can
tell he's offended) thanks for the
feedback. I'll make it better.

HARI
Yeah great. All the best
AMEER
thanks.

(sits to write. throws paper and all. Jessie's call comes)

AMEER
Oh shit!

JESSIE
Nee erangeele?
AMEER
Edi.. njan athine kurich maranne
poyi... I- I'm really sorry. Pinne
ente script-il kurach koode work
baaki und. So... Enikk varaan
pattilla. I'm really really sorry.

Silence from her side

JESSIE
(sighs) I think we should break up

AMEER
Eh? Athinum mathram entha undaaye?
JESSIE
Onnum undayille? Nee thanne aano
porathu povaann paranje? Ennitt ippo
 12.

"marannu poyi..." "Script-ilu work

cheyaan und..." Ellam ninte
ishtathinu aano ivide nadakkane?
AMEER
Njan sorry paranjille
JESSIE
"Sorry".. enne kond onnum
parayippikarithu... Nammal thammil
avasanmaayitt neritt kandeth
eppazhanenn orma undo ninak?
AMEER
Uh, etho oru Sunday nammal
kandathalle?
JESSIE
Etho oru Sunday alla. Rand aazhcha
mumbathe Sunday. Athum NJAN aanu
ninte veetil vanne... Nee ente
eduthekk eppozhenkilum vannittundo?
Atleast ingott oru call engilum
cheythoode ninak? Ninte eduth onnu
maryathakk kurach neram samsaarikaan
polum pattoola... you're always
preoccupied. Entha ninte prashnam?
Enik vendi spend cheyaan ninak
kurach samayam polum illa... Enikk
vendi mathram alla, onninum ninak
samayam illa...

AMEER
(Sighs) Njan oru important aaya oru
karyam aanu ivide cheythond
irikane...

JESSIE
Ninak mathram aano important aayitt
karyangal olle? Ellavarkum important
aayitt karyangal und. But they are
not fucking obsessed like you

AMEER
Nee oru mathiri kochu pillere pole
avalle...

JESSIE
ninakk eppozhum ninte karyam mathre
important... nee entha ithra selfish
aayi behave cheyane?

AMEER
 13.

Njanaano selfish? NEE aanu selfish.

Nee orikalum ente feelings
manasilaakan shremichittilla. You
just want my attention. Njan joleem
kalanj veetilu vazhakkum ittu ee
apartment-il vannu thamasikana ninak
UNDAAKAAN ALLA...
A beat.

JESSIE
Ini njan ninne vilikoola. Let's end
it here.

Ameer realizes he messed up. Jessie hangs up the call.

AMEER
(whispers)
Shit

(Sits to write. No progress.)

(writes while drinking. no progress)

Suddenly Ameer becomes nauseous. He is about to puke.

PRELAP: the sound of Ameer puking.

CUT TO:
Ameer is bent over the bathroom sink... He PUKES.
He raises his head. sighs. Wipes his mouth.
(goes to bed)

(next day, kid comes again, with rubick's cube in hand.)

KID
Ithu solve cheyaan padipikkuvo?
(Stares at the kid. Slams the door.)
He tries to put the bolt on the door but HURTS his finger in
the process.

AMEER
Fuck!
Blood squirts from the finger... he holds the finger in pain.
CUT TO:
 14.

9 INT. BATHROOM 9
The faucet is on. Ameer stands, rinsing the wound on his
finger. He turns off the faucet. Then, takes the bathroom
towel and gently wipes his finger.

He covers the wound with a bandage.

He sits on the toilet.
headaches.
(insanity scenes)
(rage + punches air)

Contrasts
beginning:

Rushes as he makes noodles. Burns hand. Washes.

Doesn't answer mom's call
Always inside room

Ending:
Makes noodles, he's calm. Enjoys the process.

Calls mom.
Gazes outside through the balcony... Enjoys the view.

Next day - Break up from J.

Rage, breaks laptop. But actually was thinking.