Script Treatment

 LO2    Develop a concept and treatment for a film or series script

Screen Writing Level 5

The Kitty Collective

By

Mobeena Hayat

(Could be subject to change)

Objective: 

• Main objective is solving a Murder/Mystery in a farmhouse.

• Morality of murder.

• Dissecting the lives and reactions of the Upper Class through the lens of a 25-year-old divorcee/someone who is less privileged.

• Exploring the class difference as well as how the upper class can cover up a major crime with their money and connections if need be.

• Observing the bubble that the upper-class live in.

Genre: 

Murder/Mystery/Satirical and dark Comedy

Target audience: 

16-60 / all genders.

Minimum age is 16 due to language, it will be sexually explicit and because details of the murder will be discussed and shown.

Central Idea:

Does the class difference, a direct effect of capitalism, lead to holes in people’s morality? Is murder excusable in certain cases? Why are the rich in their own bubble and so unaware of the world outside of their giant mansions?

As an investigation plays out would friends and business partners ally to avoid being blamed and convoluting the overall situation even more and snubbing progress in the investigation?

Logline:

An upper-class kitty party in Islamabad takes a darker turn when a high-profile guest gets murdered.

Summary:

Zahra, a 25-year-old who recently got divorced from her o-levels sweetheart, finds herself forced to attend a kitty party with millionaires and obscenely rich aunties due to her father’s newly made connections in the upper-class society of Islamabad.

She is urged to attend and try to hook one of the aunties with the hopes that she could be married to an heir of a giant fortune by the end of the year, but instead, Zahra finds herself disgusted with the lavish lifestyles and lack of morals within the small community and even more so when a murder takes place and she is the only grounded voice of reason as the party tries to figure out a way to solve the mystery without calling the police and being arrested themselves for possession of alcohol and drugs.

From worries about their dresses wrinkling, wine/blood being spilt on hand woven silk carpets and fake ‘posh’ sounding English accents, the entirety of the party slowly comes apart as the masks of the upper-class begin to crack.

Character Descriptions:

(Some might not be present at party)

(Will be specified upon in the script)

Dolly (Darain Kaleem) “Host”: 53 years-old, 5’4”, Healthy in the “I do yoga everyday” sense, extroverted, mother of 3, bleached golden/blonde hair, has liver spots on her wheat-ish skin due to excessive drinking, extremely complexed about her age and looks but her narcissistic personality disorder makes up for it by putting down others whenever she can, obvious botox treatments and fillers that have left her eyebrows permanently arched and her cheeks unnaturally swollen to cover up her deep under-eye circles, Heiress to a sugar mill fortune passed down to her by her parents but run by her husband, Queen Bee, needs to be in charge which is why she hosts so many parties, extremely stubborn, narcissistic, detached and fake.

Mr Sajid Kaleem: Husband of Dolly, 59 years old, 6’2”, Rosy-white complexion, extroverted, dark eyes, high cheek-bones, Extremely Handsome, has a trimmed beard, medium-length salt and pepper hair with a soft curl at the end, well groomed, frequently visits the gym, practically raised all 3 of his children by himself, is running Dolly’s sugar mills and the sole reason that the business hasn’t gone under, resents his wife as she always puts him down. Is having an affair with Geeti, wife of his childhood best friend, Niaz. He thinks he is unlucky, but he is just ungrateful and choosing to focus on the 3-4 bad things that are in his life so that he can justify his affair.

Hasan Kaleem: 28 years-old, 6’1”, Grey-black eyes, Dolly’s eldest, Dark brown hair, ambivert, looks like his father but has inherited deep under-eye circles from his mother, looks like a Pakistani Johnny Depp, finished his education, and is supposed to be taking the reins from his father for their family business but wants to pursue art as it is his passion. Smart, kind, resents his family, is aware of his privilege and is trying to give back to the community, very frugal with the money he spends on himself, an old soul, dresses extremely casually and will only buy from local markets and thrift stores.

Khadijah Kaleem: 26 years-old, 5’7”, Dark brown eyes, Dark brown hair, wheat-ish skin-tone, extroverted, has been abroad since the last 4-5 years as her mother thought she was in love with their guard, Haroon. Extremely spoilt and bratty, a kleptomaniac, smart, conflicted and confused about her life and what she stands for.

Junaid Kaleem: 25 Years-old, 5’11”, brown eyes, light brown hair, fair skin, extroverted, an equal mix of his mom and dad physically and bad habits/attitude wise. Is an arrogant and bad person. Tries to bring down his siblings whenever he can so that he can be perceived as the best. Wants to take over his family business. Very greedy and ungrateful. Was raised by maids and his mother as his father was very busy during Junaid’s formative years. Is no longer studying, hoping his brother’s reluctance to take over the business will make it drop directly into his lap.

Tony (Tahira Khawar): 48 years-old, 5’0”, extremely thin, always dolled up, extroverted, Dolly’s biggest follower/brown noser, has a daughter, Layla, that she is trying to marry off to Dolly’s eldest son. Tends to be blinded by her love for money and status, wants for her daughter what she could not have, was a salon worker and now owns her own salon franchise due to Dolly’s support. Smart, sly, has many regrets and is bitter about her past due to the hardships she faced but has decided to completely bury that life and exist only as an upper-class elite. Met her husband through Dolly and Mr. Kaleem, she realised no one else from the upper-class circle wanted to marry her and Jamshed Khawar was her best bet at securing her elite lifestyle and status.

Mr. Jamshed Khawar: Tony’s Husband, 50 years-old, 5’6”, introverted, greedy, went from sweeper to starting a professional cleaning business and then using the money from that to buy factories and start his own line of cleaning supplies, currently a giant in that field. Golf buddies with Sajid Kaleem and was introduced to his wife through Dolly, she thought they would be a good fit because they both have similar “Unfortunate” pasts in the slums of f-6, they got married as no one else from the elite circle wanted to marry them due to their past.

He is infatuated with Dolly and likes to have ‘lady and the tramp’ type fantasies about her, as he was from an extremely poor background like his wife, He hopes his daughter will not marry Dolly’s son as he thinks a better alliance would be made if his daughter marries the son of a wealthy American Cleaning Supply industry giant. He hopes the two companies could merge through the marriage. He is the sort of greasy uncles that always reeks of onions and always has oily fingers and middle-parted hair, you tend to avoid meeting him because he gets overly friendly with anyone younger or richer than him, ESPECIALLY females. Is trying to blackmail Baby out of her fortune.

Layla Khawar: 25 years-old, 5’7”, Slender, ambivert, golden/sand coloured skin, dark hair, hazel eyes and a nose ring, daughter of Tony and Jamshed, grew up extremely privileged and spoilt, was a rebellious teen who would get drunk and drive around in a black jeep gifted to her by her parents with no fear of repercussions, is now a sober adult seeking a normal life away from the elites but cannot due to dolly and her parents insistence on marrying her to the highest bidder, she is dating the guard at Dolly’s farmhouse, Haroon, who used to play with her and Dolly’s daughter, Khadijah, when they were young.

She wants to marry Haroon but cannot bring herself to leave her mother, who is terrible otherwise but genuinely cares for Laila. She is hoping to leave with either Tony’s blessing or run away with a tonne of cash stolen from her dad or any of the rich people at the party. A bit of an over-spender and doesn’t have much of a value for money and trying to let go of the habits formed by her privileged lifestyle as she doesn’t want to disappoint Haroon. Thinks her family’s money is the root cause of what makes them terrible people.

Haroon Kakakhel: 26 years-old, 6’2”, a Pashtun, rosy-white complexion, dark locks of wavy hair with specks of grey in it, has bright blue eyes, extroverted, His father was a cook for Dolly, grew up as a playmate for Dolly’s children and was educated at the same schools as them, his father died when Haroon just finished his a‘levels and he immediately began working as a guard at Dolly’s to support his younger siblings and widowed mother.

Currently is saving up for his higher education so he can make something of himself and be able to support Layla. He is from a poor background but since he went to a posh school, he has high ambitions and is cunning. Is down-to-earth otherwise but feels that his family is a burden on him and after supporting them for so long, he wants to leave them and start his own life with Layla. Dolly’s Daughter is in love with him, but Dolly figured it out and moved him from the main house to the farmhouse and sent her daughter abroad for university. Him and Dolly are not fond of each other.

Zahra Arshad: 25 years-old, 5’9”, Golden/Yellow looking eyes, only child, Introverted, Divorcee, daughter of a government official who is of benefit to Dolly and Sajid Kaleem and the other rich families due to his connections and influence, she is attending on behalf of her father and has no mother. She is not used to the money and splendours of the elites, was born in Islamabad and went to a normal private school, was an average student and met her ex-husband in 9th grade when she was 14, they dated for 5 years before getting engaged at 19 and married at 20. The marriage ended in 2 and a half years due to her ex having an affair with his insanely rich 18-year-old cousin that was visiting from the US, the cousins’ father was his boss, and he married her the same day his divorce with Zahra was finalized and moved to California.

Zahra has been single for 2 ½ years and is not bothered by it, she is extremely focused on healing and has been working as a criminal lawyer for the last year after becoming a barrister. Kind, focused, compassionate, empathetic, photographic memory, practical, down-to-earth/grounded, has had to work hard to reach where she is in life, un-privileged, prioritizing her job and herself as she believes the right person will come along whenever it is fated.

Pinky (Aileen Waqar): 42 years-old, 5’1”, dark skin, extremely skinny, wears a horrid pink lipstick, hypocrite, has giant eyebrows, cannot carry any clothes well, terrible fashion sense but even the nicest and most expensive clothes cry when she wears them, her husband is the owner of Pakistan’s biggest supermarket-pharmacy chain, loves cheap water activated tattoos and puts them on her tri-cep area, especially scorpion ones. Doesn’t spend less than 2lac rupees a day, extroverted and extremely nosy.

Dr. Waqar Imtiaz: 45 years-old, 5’11”, owner of Pakistan’s biggest supermarket-pharmacy chain, quiet, dull, fades into the background most of the time, extremely competent businessman but is a hypochondriac and self prescribes/abuses his ownership of a pharmacy. Always has a variety of stimulating drugs and painkillers in his little brown bag. 

Bunty Begum (Sherbano Rasheed): 50 years-old, 5’3”, Dark hair, extremely famous designer, has the face of an English bulldog and posture of a croissant, has tattooed eyebrows that look like lines drawn with a pen and Amy Winehouse eyeliner that stands out daily and even more so at funerals where everyone else is barefaced, buys all her fabric from France instead of her husbands’ factories, superstitious, competitive, was the only one to question the legitimacy of Sherry’s money and was rude to her as a defence mechanism but is now her arch-nemesis, wants to leave her husband but will not out of sheer stubbornness as she knows about his affair and leaving him would signify Sherry winning.

Mr. Rasheed Alikarak: 68 years-old, 5’10”, owner of factories in the textile industry that he inherited from his father, is having an affair with Sherry, is very dull and boring, has more money than sense, cocaine addiction and an inflated ego due to his affair with someone as beautiful as Sherry. Is very idiotic but thinks he’s a genius. He is under the impression that he has balanced marriage and his mistress, but everyone knows.

Mr. Rasool Khanzada: 51 years-old, 6’0”, unmarried, General in the army about to retire, extremely corrupt, is a whiskey drunk, has stolen more money than he’ll be able to use in his lifetime, die-hard romantic and loves the movie “Pretty Woman”, he hires hookers a lot hoping he’ll find his true love one day but it has just left him with a destroyed reputation, looks like Fawad Khan and Slash’ love-child.

Geeti Niaz: 30 years-old, 5’7”, yoga instructor, extremely thin and flexible, has been “around” more than a blunt at a college party, is plain looking but loves wearing dresses that she is pouring out of and are 2 sizes too small so she is automatically attracting the attention of most men in the room and will pretty much go to third base with anyone who gives her enough attention by the end of the night, waiters included, extremely against drinking alcohol but is high on cocaine pretty much all the time, grew up with an absent father and has insane daddy-issues so she is only attracted to older men but it all worked out because her parents married her off to the highest bidder at 16, her husband was too focused on trying to “fix” her issues and get her therapy so she stopped liking him and started having an affair with Sajid Kaleem to spite him.

Mr. Niaz Chaudry: 60 years-old, 5’10”, introvert, is dragged into the elites circle by his wife and Sajid, Well-educated from an ivy-league university, a good man, the only one out of the entire batch of elites that has a conscience and is kind, made his money by selling off all the land he inherited from his family and reinvesting in stocks, thinks his wife is having an affair with Jamshed Khawar.

Baby (Banaspati Begum): 71 years-old, 5’2”, the eldest out of all the females, tends to do a line of coke every couple of hours, get drunk and just sit on a sofa to ramble on about her golden days, high alcohol tolerance, outrageous blue eyeshadow with bright red lipstick, Heiress of a ginormous fortune, widowed, no children, is spending as much as she can so she doesn’t have to leave her money to anyone, is still searching for a successor just in case she dies before she spends every last penny. Depressed, makes witty comments, lonely, well-read, sharp- despite her age and the intoxicants, extremely bitter, vain, rumoured to have stabbed her husband to death because she found out about his affair, has leant money to everyone in the room (except Zahra) to support their endeavours at least once.

Sherry: 34 years-old, 5’5”, raven hair, blue-grey eyes, extremely pale, beautiful, mysterious, alluring, no one knows her last name, she has been part of the upper circle for 3 years and owns the biggest house in F-6, No one knows how she got her money, everyone assumes she’s married to the owner of a fortune 500 company, is having an affair with Rasheed Alikarak to get back at Bunty for being rude to her, also enjoys spending his money and waving it around in Bunty’s face.

Victim options and why they could be killed (killer undecided):

(Zahra is the only character there by chance, to be used as a voice of reason for the story and a scapegoat for the elites)

Jamshed Khawar:

1. Finds out how Sherry acquired her wealth,

2. Knows about his daughter and Haroon trying to steal and elope

3. Knows about baby killing her husband for his money and was trying to get in on a piece of her fortune,

4. knows about Geeti and Sajid Kaleem’s affair,

5. Is threatening to pull out of business with the Waqar’s’ supermarket-pharmacy as he was blackmailing Baby,

6. Niaz Chaudhry thinks Jamshed is having an affair with Geeti

Sherry:

1. Knew all the secrets Jamshed knew about the group,

2. Everyone finds out about her true intentions and wants to get back at her for some reason or another.

3. The party could be hosted for the sole purpose of killing Sherry and framing it on Zahra

4. They could get away with it because she is a nobody with a fake name.

Baby:

1. She overdoses, dies of substance abuse or old age,

2. Everyone at the party wants in on her money,

3. Someone at the party owed her money.

Dolly:

1. She’s just extremely annoying and overbearing,

2. Has betrayed everyone in the room at least once,

3. Tries making the party guests partake in something appalling.