2025 Scriptwriting Contest Winner: A Month To Plan by Drishti Mohnani
- The Cleverly Creatives
- 22 hours ago
- 13 min read
A short play
Cast of Characters
Main Characters:
Drishti - A 15 year old girl who is ambitious and at the same time filled with all the typical teenage feelings.
Dhairya - Drishti’s best friend and her classmate. Patrick - Exchange student from Los Angeles.
Kartikay - A 15 year old boy and Drishti’s crush.
Miss Borikar - 45 year old woman who is headmistress of the school and also the class teacher of section 10th A.
Side Characters:
Vedika, Samreedhi, Aarya, Pawani : Fellow female classmates and event organizers.
Vrushank, Arnav, Atharva : Fellow male classmates and event organizers.
Shlok : Fellow classmate who performed stand up comedy at the event.
Scene
The play is based in a school in India.
Time
The play is based in modern times around the year 2022-23
I-1-1
Act 1
Scene 1
Fade in:
INT. Classroom - Friday Morning
It is a rainy Friday morning. The dark clouds in the sky have resulted in cancellation of the assembly (usually held in the open ground). The tube lights are turned on, making the room look old. The attendance is done and the students are catching up on their assignments. Just then Miss Borikar gets up from behind her desk and comes in the front,faces the students, leans her hip on the desk while keeping both her hands on the desk.
Miss Borikar
I have an important announcement to
make. As you all know starting tomorrow
the holidays are beginning and the next
school session will begin two weeks
later on Monday. And in the new session
someone new will be joining us.
Miss Borikar notices that by now the entire class has their heads turned to their left, staring at the open door. Miss Borikar also looks to her right and spots a boy standing in the doorway. His hair is slightly wet. He is wearing a white shirt with black cargo pants and brown sandals instead of the school uniform. And a partially empty backpack is hanging from his right shoulder.
Miss Borikar
(raising an eyebrow)
Yes?
Patrick
I’m the exchange student from Greenwood
High school, Los Angeles. I was
supposed to come this Friday.
I-1-2
Miss Borikar
Actually, no. You were supposed to be
here on the Friday, which is two weeks
from today. Anyways take a seat, we’ll
discuss everything else shortly.
Patrick tries to make his way to the nearest empty seat but ends up slipping on the moist ceramic floor tiles. He manages to hold onto a bench in front of him but his water bottle escapes the side pocket of his bag and breaks open, splashing water on the legs of four students. The entire class breaks into laughter except the four.
Miss Borikar
(Restraining from laughing but slightly
smiling)
Kriti, please go call the janitor after
the class and get this water wiped.
Okay everyone settle down and let me
start again. I was informing you
earlier that a new student will be
joining us in the next session. Luckily
he is here already so Patrick, come in
front and introduce yourself. Hopefully
without falling this time.(she chuckles
as she says this).
Patrick
Hello everyone, I’m Patrick Brooks. I
am here as an exchange student from
Greenwood High school Los Angeles. I’ll
be attending this school for 3 months.I
play badminton among several other
sports and I plan to be a journalist.
Miss Borikar
Excellent! After class Drishti will
give you an official tour of the place
and utilize this break to socialize and
visit new places.
I-2-3
And I expect you all to make him feel
welcomed and comfortable.
Scene - 2
Int. Hallway - Friday Afternoon
(During break time)
Drishti
(Walking)
..Try to avoid this water cooler. It's
very close to the garden so once a frog
took refuge in the water tank plus the
lid does not have a lock like the other
water coolers so it's often the victim of
teenage pranks. And this water cooler
(says while pointing to her right) is the
best one in the entire school. The water
is cool but not too cool and it's only
100 meters away from our classroom.
And this brings us to the end of our
tour. (Stops walking and stands next to a
wall in the hallway)
Patrick
(Stands next to her)
Wow! That is a lot of information to
receive in 25 minutes. But thanks for the
important tips. I'll remember them.
A boy's arm comes from behind and lands on Drishti’s left shoulder and his face comes from behind the right shoulder.
Drishti
Patrick meet my best friend Dhairya
(pointing to the boy)and Dhairya meet
Patrick.
I-2-4
Dhairya
Yea! I heard your intro in the class.
Nice to meet you and welcome to our
school.
You know you came at the right time.
This two week holiday was coined as the ultimate party paradise by our seniors. Because we get no holiday homework, no
one leaves town or joins any classes or internship as the holiday is too short
for that. So all that’s left is to hang out and have fun.
Drishti
Yes, you should come! Give me your
insta ID and I will send you the
e-invites of all parties and the link
to on air shit.
Patrick
What’s On Air Shit?
Dhairy
(Looking at Drishti with raised
eyebrows)
You didn’t tell him about OAS? You
should have begun the tour with that.
(Now, looking at Patrick)
On Air Shit is like the gossip girl of
our school. But it just posts thrice a
week at 7 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and it’s a private website.
You can find all the events that are
going to occur on it.
Patrick
Any idea who runs it?
I-2-5
Drishti
Not really. We did have a few guesses but no one really knows for sure. Plus we
don't want the teachers or parents to
know. It has a lot of secrets, almost
about everyone. Also dating and Indian
parents don't get along. So if OAS gets
noticed by any elder, we all go down.
Dhairya
Anyways, let's see you at the gatherings.
Patrick
Sure thing!
II-1-6
Act - II
Scene -1
INT. Vedika’s House - Saturday Evening
Patrick opens the gate to the house.He walks towards the main door while holding a tiny paper bag and scans the room with his eyes. A bunch of the guys are playing video games on the living room TV, some other guys and girls are playing flip the bottle. Some of the girls are talking. Just then Patrick notices two familiar faces coming towards him.
Dhairya
(In a bad British accent)
Hey! Looks like you made it Mate! How
are you doing this fine evening?
Drishti
He’s American, not British!
A slightly shorter guy comes from behind Drishti and stands in the doorway next to Drishti and Dhairya before Patrick can say anything.
Vrushank
(In a better American accent)
How are you doing this fine evening
bro? Didn't have any trouble finding
the house? Did you?
Drishti
You know, you should not mock people.
Dhairya
Says the mocking queen.
Drishti
Well, he’s new, the mocking and teasing
starts from day 3!
II-1-7
Vrushank
Agreed! By the way, I am Vrushank (says
while extending his hand towards
Patrick)
Patrick
(Shakes his hand) Nice to meet you and
hear your original voice.(finishes the
sentence with a smirk)
A girl comes from behind and puts her head between Vrushank’s and Drishti’s heads.
Vedika
Hey! The new Guy talks. (says in a
sarcastic tone).
By the way I’m Vedika,(shakes his hand)
nice to meet you and welcome to my
house.
Another girl comes from behind and puts her head between Drishti’s and Dhairya’s heads.
Samreedhi
And I’m Samreedhi. Her best friend.
(shakes his hand).
Hey look, the new guy knows that in
India you never visit someone else’
house empty handed.
(She snatches the bag out of his hands
and holds each side of the bag in
either hand and looks in the bag.)
And he brought a toothbrush and a
toothpaste (she says while smiling and
in a confused tone
II-1-8
Patrick
(Scratches his head and his face turns
slightly red with embarrassment)
That’s actually mine. I forgot to bring
mine from LA. And since I’m new here
and I saw the store on the way, I
thought I would buy it.(Points at the
bag and takes it away.)
Vedika
Anyways, come on in. It's going to be 7
soon and the OAS story must be coming
and after that we’ll play dumb
charades, mafia and quizzo. It will be
fun.
Everyone proceeds inside. Patrick catches up to D and matches her pace.
Patrick
(While walking)
Is the “empty handed thing” really a
thing in India? I thought it was just
something they showed in the ‘Never
Have I Ever’ series.
Drishti
Well the series’ depiction of our
culture was pretty accurate especially
the Indian mom thing.
But don’t worry they were just messing
with you. You mostly do such things in
formal gatherings and for adults. This
is neither formal nor her parents are
home.
Samreedhi (V.O.)
It’s 7 minutes to 7!
II-1-9
Drishti
(Looks at Patrick)
You go ahead, I need to call my mother
and tell her that I’ll be late.
(Quickly proceeds to leave the room)
Everyone gathers around the room and several minutes later the new story pops up. And V reads it out loud from her phone.
Vedika
“A little birdie told me that we might
have a love triangle amongst us. Turns
out Miss GG has a huge crush on Mr. SS
but Mr. SS is head over heels for her
bestie Miss AB. Uh-Oh Miss GG looks
like yet again your thunder got stolen
by your bestie none the less.”
Samreedhi
Damn! this is new info.
Just then Drishti comes into the room.
Drishti
Well we can discuss this later. Let's
start the party games now!
Throughout the holidays they went to several parties, hangouts, lunches and dinner. And today is the last Saturday before the schools open on Monday.
Scene -2
EXT. Aarya’s Frontyard - Saturday Evening
Almost everyone is dancing but some small groups of people are standing or sitting and talking slightly away from the area. Drishti, Dhairya and Patrick are sweaty and sitting on the lawn, slightly away from the dancing area. They look exhausted
II-2-10
Drishti
(She is holding a half empty glass in
one of her hand and a straw in the
other)
Man! This is the best mint mojito I
have ever had.
Dhairya
You know it's probably because of all
the dancing we have been doing for the
past hour.
Patrick
What! It's 6:50 already?
Drishti
(Looks at a distance and says while
quickly hurrying to get up) You know I
have to go use the restroom. I'll be
back in a jiffy.
Dhairya grabs her arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving.
Dhairya
You always do this. Whenever he comes
around you try to avoid him and run
away.
Drishti
(Slightly blushing)
No I don't!
Patrick
(Leans towards Dhairya and asks) Him
who?
II-2-11
Dhairya
You see that tall, handsome guy with
the perfect jawline coming in our
direction. That's Kartikay, Drishti
has a huge crush on him.
Patrick looks a little disappointed after hearing this
Drishti
I don't have a..
Kartikay
(Approaches the three of them and
interrupts Drishti mid sentence)
What don't you have?
Drishti
Umm.. I don't have a .. straw!
(quickly hides the straw in the back
pocket of her jeans)
A girl needs her straw to suck on..
(she says nervously)
Drishti quickly turns around and starts walking away. The straw is visible in her back pocket as she walks and both Patrick and Dhairya laugh while Kartikay chuckles.
Drishti
(says with an embarrassed face to
herself)
Straw! Seriously? Couldn't have come
up with something better?
Act III
Scene-1
INT. Multipurpose hall - Monday Morning
Miss Borkar
Today is 5th August and you guys are
now in 10th grade and all three
sections are sitting here in
Multipurpose hall so it can only mean
one thing, this year you guys are
going to organize teacher's day.
The entire class starts yay-ing and hooting from joy.
Miss Borikar
(Slams the wooden duster on her
wooden desk) Quiet!
You students don't leave any chance
to make noise. Do you?
Anyways, listen carefully I'm
assigning assignments now.
Drishti, Dhairya, Vedika, Atharva and
Patrick are responsible for
organizing, coordinating and planning
events for the special assembly.
Discuss amongst yourself and tell me
the amount of students you'll need
and which events you are planning.
Kartikay, Arnav and Samreedhi are in
charge of assigning students which
junior class they'll be teaching
while teachers are busy attending the
special events planned for them.
Pawani and Vrushank will be incharge
of decorations of the event.
That will be all for now. Consult me
with the planned details by the end
of the week and then you can start
III-2-13
practicing and preparation. You guys
have a month to plan so do it well.
Now you all can go back to your
respective classes.
Everyone gets up and proceeds to
leave.
Scene-2
EXT. School Amphitheatre - Monday afternoon
(During Break time)
Drihti
Are all the in-charges here?
Everyone together
Here!
Drishti
All of us have the next period free
and including the break it gives us
enough time to make plans.
Patrick
Umm.. I don't know what happens on
teacher's day, since I'm not only new
to this school but also to this
country.
Dhairya
In India every year on 5th September
teacher's day is celebrated, honoring
the birth anniversary of former
president Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
Vedika
Yes, and on that day we all have to
plan special events for teachers to
enjoy
III-2-14
Samreedhi
And they get a break from teaching
and instead the seniormost 10th class
teaches all the junior classes till
first break.
Vrushank
And then the teachers come and have
fun in the last 3 remaining periods
with their respective classes.
Patrick
So it is what it sounds like. A day
dedicated to teachers.
Drishti
(Sarcastically)
By George, I think he's got it!
Vedika
So we have to start with the usual -
English thought
Hindi Suvichar
Sanskrit Shloka
A dance
A song
Information on Teacher's day and Dr.
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
Information on the death anniversary
of Mother Teresa.
Dhairya
So what special will our batch be
doing?
Patrick
How ‘bout a stand up?
III-2-15
Drishti
Hmm.. that would be a great idea.
Kartikay
We can make information giving
students dress like Mother Teresa and
Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan to make
it more interesting.
Drishti
Yes, that is a brilliant idea KC.
Vedika
(In a teasing way)
Hmm.. he does have a brilliant idea,
doesn't he? Drishti.
Drishti
(Slightly blushing and in an attempt
to avoid the topic)
Moving on, what should we plan for
teachers?
Samreedhi
Treasure hunt!
Dhairya
Yea sounds nice!
Drishti
Cool then everything is done.
Pawani
Hey!(In a raised tone) What about
decorations?
Arnav
Yes indeed decorations are very
important.
III-2-16
Atharva
(In a mocking way)
Yes, decorations are important
especially to Pawani and her
boyfriend. (Eyeing Arnav as he was
saying the sentence).
Drishti
How about a happy teacher's day
written on a board to hang on the
background wall of the stage.
Vrushank
And we'll figure out the rest,
decorations aren't that important
anyways.
Pawani looks at Vrushank angrily so Vrushank jumps up from his seats and runs and sits at least 4 seats away from her.
Drishti
Well then, this will be all. We will
meet everyday before the first period
to assign everyone the task and begin
the speech, song and dance practice.
And for the final rehearsal we can
meet on Tuesday (2nd September) at my
place around 5pm.
Vedika
No 5 doesn't work for me, I've my
monthly dentist appointment then.
Drishti
Then 6?
III-2-17
Dhairya
I've maths tuition from 6 to 7pm
every Tuesday
Patrick
Then we all can meet at 7
Drishti
Umm.. no not 7, let's meet around
7:30pm then we can see the final
rehearsal till 9 and we all can go
out to have dinner and be home by
10:30 pm.
Dhairya
Yes and Me, Drishti, Samreedhi and
Patrick will take care of organizing
the treasure hunt and making and
hiding the clues.
Everyone nods in affirmation.
Scene-3
INT. Auditorium - Thursday Morning
Today is Teacher’s day. The entire auditorium is in chaos. The seats are empty, only the organizing committee is there setting up.
D is checking the mics and sound system. Pawani is checking the board is leveled.
Everyone on the organizing team starts going backstage as soon as teachers and students start entering the auditorium.
The event started and everything went great so far. Now it was time for the stand up performance.
III-3-18
Drishti
For the first time in the history of
our school, we present to you a stand
up comedy piece on dogs, originally
performed by Akash Gupta. So please
start clapping for Shlok.
Drishti exits from the left exit and Shlok enters the stage from the left exit. But as he is entering he trips on the ornamental plant but to prevent himself from falling he leaps with one of his legs and his back slightly arched forward. The entire auditorium bursts in laughter including everyone backstage.
The rest of the assembly goes well and now everyone is packing up the supplies. Drishti is bundling up the sound wires when Patrick approaches her.
Patrick
It was a very fun experience.
Drishti
Yes indeed, for the 13 years I have
been in this school I have never seen
our teachers run this way.
Miss Borikar literally jumped down the
staircase skipping 3 steps just to
reach the next clue.
Although Satpal sir should have said
something when he found the winning
bag. He assumed it was some student’s
bag and kept it down and left it there.
Patrick
Yes,sometimes all you have to do is
tell the other person what you think.
That’s why I have to tell you
something…
III-3-19
Vedika (V.O.)
Drishti, Could you come over here?
Dhairya is stuck in these cable wires.
Drishti
(Smiling and confused) What?
(Shouts back to Vedika) Wait! I’m
coming!
(looks at Patrick)I’ll be right there.
Patrick stands there slightly disappointed while Drishti rushes out of the stage.
Scene-4
They all successfully untangled Dhairya and now Drishti is heading back to the stage. Patrick is still standing there.
Drishti
(To herself while walking)
Sometimes all you have to do is speak
what is on your mind. Hmm..
interesting.
As she is walking on the stage she bumps head on into kartikay.
Drishti
(Nervously) Sorry, my bad
Kartikay
It’s alright. (After a brief pause) So
the event was a huge success.
Drishti
Yes. and your costume idea was also a
big hit. For the first time the junior
classes paid attention to the
information.
Kartikay
Yea.
III-4-20
There is an awkward silence between them. Patrick notices Drishti and heads towards her.
Drishti
(to herself in a whispered voice)
Sometimes all you have to do is speak
your mind.
Kartikay
You said something?
Drishti
Well… (nervously) I was wondering if
you would like to get a glass of
milkshake sometimes? Or we don't have
to if you don't want to.
Kartikay
I would love to. I thought you would
never ask.
Drishti
(With a big smile and slightly
blushing) Amazing! See you then.
Drishti hurries over to Patrick with a big smile on her face. Patrick was standing near them and overheard their conversation.
Drishti
Patrick, You wanted to tell me
something, right?
Patrick
No, not really. I just wanted to
congratulate you on organizing this
amazing event.
Drishti
Oh, thank you. Afterall, we had a month
to plan so it had to go well. Anyways I
III-4-20
have to go find Dhairya and tell him a great piece of news. See you in class.
III-4-21
Patrick
Yes absolutely.
Drishti skips excitedly in Dhairya’s direction and Patrick is standing there with a disappointed face watching her go away.
Fade Out:
I-1-2
Cover Page by Jiaying Chen
Read more about the author here: https://thecleverlycreatives.wixsite.com/thecleverlycreatives/post/scriptwriting-contest-winner-interview-with-drishti-mohnani
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