THE THRESHOLD

By Yagnam

OPENING IMAGE

NOVEMBER 2021. NIKHIL a 21-year-old Indian Male Immigrant student clocks into the Tim Hortons
he works at. He is sent by the manager to get a store parcel from the Tim Hortons a few blocks away.
He walks by the underpass to protect himself from the snowfall. Out of nowhere an armed man
comes running toward Nikhil and shoots him down. 3 shots are fired and Nikhil dies on the spot. The
gunman runs away. People gather around Nikhil’s body. The snowfall increases.

C STORY: The Ghost of Nikhil

JANUARY 2022. An international flight filled with international students lands on the snowy runway
of the Toronto Pearson Airport. PANSHUL an 18-year-old old Indian Male Immigrant student is
seated on one of the window seats of this flight looking out at the first snowfall of his life. He has
finally arrived in his dreamland, Canada.

B STORY: Panshul’s arrival in Canada

ACT 1

NOVEMBER 2021. MEHOOL a 23-year-old Indian Male Immigrant clocks in for his shift at a local fast
food restaurant. His manager makes him put his phone away and warns him not to use it during his
shift. Mehool looks like he has been working here for quite a while. His main task is to take the
garbage out and it takes Mehool quite some time to finish it. Meanwhile, his phone starts buzzing
with missed calls and messages. Mehool is completely unaware of this.

A STORY: Mehool’s damaged lifestyle

SEPTEMBER 2022 . Nikhil and Mehool meet in the same alley. It’s Nikhil’s first day working at the
restaurant beside the restaurant Mehool works at. Both of them are here to dump garbage. Mehool
and Nikhil have a brief conversation about Nikhil’s new job before Nikhil’s angry white manager
scolds him to get back to work.

JANUARY 2022. The baggage claim area of the Toronto Pearson Airport is filled with long queues of
bags that belong to International Students from all over the world. The conveyor belt doesn’t stop
bringing the bags, they keep coming.

NOVEMBER 2021. Mehool’s shift ends. On his walk back home, he checks the missed calls and
messages. They are from the Toronto Police Headquarters. There is an image of a bag covered in
blood with the text “Please respond – Toronto Police”. The bag covered in blood is Nikhil’s. Mehool
reaches the police headquarters in a haze. He numbingly answers the police’s questions with the
single answer of; “Yes that is Nikhil’s Bag”. INCITING INCIDENT

JANUARY 2022. Panshul has deboarded the plane and is in the immigration queue for International
Students. Panshul like all international students waits in the queue for 3hrs and exhaustively
answers the skewed questions of the immigration officers.

SEPTEMBER 2021. It’s a sunny snowy morning. Nikhil and Mehool walk home from their night shifts,
exhausted. Nikhil is exhausted but smiling due to the sunshine, Mehool is just bitter. They have an
inconclusive argument about student jobs as they walk home.
NOVEMBER 2021. Gloomy morning with drizzling rain. Mehool returns exhausted from his night at
the police headquarters. He walks alone on the same road he and Nikhil used to walk on. He is alone
and numbed by the news of Nikhil’s death. Mehool reaches their home but he finds it difficult to
enter the room. He stands outside for a while and stares at Nikhil’s side of the room.

OCTOBER 2021. Nikhil enters the room. It has been 1 month since Nikhil moved into this room.
Nikhil looks exhausted and emotional. He has a small breakdown looking at the family photograph
by his bedside. Mehool enters the room and Nikhil is embarrassed to cry in front of him. Mehool and
Nikhil have a heated argument about the Canadian dream being a delusion.

NOVEMBER 2021. Mehool eventually breaks down at the sight of Nikhil’s side of the room being
empty. Mehool and Nikhil had been roommates for 3 months but now it was empty. Nikhil was
gone. FIRST TURN
ACT 2

JANUARY 2022. Panshul is picked up from the airport by a family friend of a distant relative. He
spends his first week living in their house like most Indian students do. Though the experience of
living with them turns bitter and unwelcoming very fast. Panshul decides to find his student home as
soon as possible and get out of their house.

OCTOBER 2021. Mehool throws a beer party at their home to lift Nikhil’s mood. The circus that is a
Student home comes alive at this party in a strange collective sadness.

JANUARY 2022. Panshul starts completing the exhausting formalities like the SIN card and the SIM
card that International Students have to complete. Panshul also starts house hunting and is
introduced to the distorted spectrum of Student Homes and the variety of degrading lifestyles there.

NOVEMBER 2021. Mehool spends the entire day after Nikhil died in his bed, sleepless. He suddenly
remembers that he is supposed to call Nikhil’s parents. Mehool calls the parents in tears and is
scarred by the screams of Nikhil’s mother.

OCTOBER 2021. Montage of Mehool and Nikhil’s house the week after the weekend party. The
housemates barely talk to each other but they acknowledge their common exhaustion and sadness
in glances and greetings.

NOVEMBER 2021. 2 weeks pass after Nikhil’s death. Mehool doesn’t leave his room at all except
when he is called by the authorities. He does not talk to anyone but Nikhil’s parents to whom he
keeps giving updates about the case through short, silent video calls. The police release their official
statement on Nikhil’s death. They declare Nikhil’s death a “Random Act of Violence”. Nikhil’s parents
and Mehool are devastated and enraged by their statement. After the statement, Nikhil’s death
becomes a huge media spectacle. There are protests held, debates had and Nikhil becomes a story in
Canada and India. Nikhil’s parents get involved in the media trial and show their anger publicly.
Mehool shuns everyone away and refuses to watch any television coverage of this.

JANUARY 2022. Panshul’s mistreatment at his family relative’s home increases exponentially. He is
unable to take it any longer. He rents a shared room at a Student House without even visiting it. He
realises that his decision is rash but he can’t take it any longer. He is going to move out the next day
and shift to his Student House.

DECEMBER 2021. Mehool had been avoiding talking to his own family after Nikhil’s death. He finally
decides to call them for selfish reasons.
Mehool disregards their concerns and just informs them that he has decided to not pursue the job
opportunity his college has arranged for him and continue his restaurant job and pay off the loans
his parents have taken for him. He was going to sort the finances out and there was nothing to worry
about that. Anything else, he did not want to discuss. MID-POINT

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 4. Panshul was going to move out today. He was waiting for his uncle to give
him a ride, but the Uncle does not come on time. After a while, the uncle calls Panshul and tells him
that their family had to attend a family event and won’t be there to help him out. Panshul feels
betrayed but decides to book a cab and leave the “relative’s” place once and for all.

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 1. Mehool has settled into a deep depression. He has a strict routine of
drudgery. He drinks, works night shifts and sleeps in between. On his walk to work, he sometimes
spends time staring at the homeless people who sleep under the bus shed by his house. Mehool only
works and drinks during the week, on the weekend he goes out sometimes with a 50-year-old
working-class white man with whom he talks less and drinks more.

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 4. Panshul finally reaches the house that he is renting out. There is no one to
welcome him at the door. He painfully carries all of his luggage upstairs. The housemates enter the
house after Panshul is done taking his luggage upstairs. They are upset and angry at Panshul for
standing with his luggage outside Mehool’s room without any prior notice to any of them. Panshul
tries to defend himself that he has talked everything over with the landlord but the housemates
deny any of Panshul’s claims. They take all of Panshul’s luggage downstairs and have an internal
discussion about Panshul. They realise that legally Panshul can stay in Mehool’s room but Mehool
won’t be capable of dealing with suddenly finding someone strange sleeping in Nikhil’s place. But
they also realise this issue can’t reach the landlord. They give Panshul a midway, they make him an
offer to sleep on the floor and lie to him that someone is still living in that room and they’ll need
some days to empty the room. Panshul is devastated about not getting the room he paid for but
there is nothing he can do.

Panshul sleeps on the cold floor with his towel as his mattress and his clothes as a blanket. Panshul is
distraught by the turn of events and cries himself to sleep. SECOND TURN

ACT 3

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 3. Mehool has settled into his depressive lifestyle and continues it in a fixed
rhythm. Work, drink, sleep and pay off his student loan on bi-weekly minimum wage cheques.
Nikhil’s parents call Mehool after a long time. Their video call is still sombre but a little strange.
Nikhil’s parents seem better, they seem to be coping healthily. Unlike Mehool who has been feeling
worse. Seeing Nikhil’s parents feeling better spirals Mehool further into a shell. He starts drinking
more and stops going out during the day completely.

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 4. Panshul’s first week in college is nothing like he expected. He woke up way
too early and ran to college and came back as late as possible so that he could avoid sleeping on the
floor as much as he could. Every night he asked the housemates if he could move into the room he
paid for and for 5 nights straight he was denied. He had to sleep on the floor for the entire first week
of his college.

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 4. Mehool has been heavily drinking since his last conversation with Nikhil’s
parents. It’s 2 am in the night when Mehool wakes up from his sleep. He had passed out drinking. He
is thirsty and goes down to get some water. His head hurts as he takes each step. As he is about to
drink the water his eyes spot someone sleeping on the floor. Mehool starts having a nervous
breakdown, he thinks he is seeing a ghost. He starts walking towards the body.

He can’t believe that there is someone actually sleeping on the floor. He starts thinking that he is
hallucinating. He thinks this may be the ghost of Nikhil. He is about to touch the body when Panshul
turns in his sleep. Mehool is shocked to see a strange boy sleeping on the floor of his house. He can’t
comprehend what is happening, his head hurts and he runs back to his room. THE WORST THING.

JANUARY 2022 WEEK 4 NEXT MORNING. Mehool calls all the housemates to his room. The
housemates come clean about what is happening and who Panshul is and why is he on the floor.
Mehool listens to them silently. Mehool then goes down and meets Panshul for the first time.
Panshul is optimistic about finally meeting Mehool. Mehool does not make any conversation but
simply asks Panshul if he needs cushions. Panshul is devastated that he is still not being allowed in
the room. ASSUMPTION OF POWER

ACT 4

JANUARY WEEK 5. Nothing changes for another week for Mehool and Panshul. Mehool continues his
depressive routine and Panshul spends another week escaping to college, sleeping on the floor and
hoping that he is let into his room. Panshul stays in college for the entire day, Mehool keeps working
the entire night and they never meet each other. Mehool leaves cushions beside Panshul’s luggage
one night. Panshul uses them the next day for slightly better sleep on the floor. NEW ENERGY

SEPTEMBER 2021. It’s Nikhil’s first week in his shared room with Mehool. Nikhil has enjoyed sleeping
on the floor for a few days but is excited to arrange his new mattress that has just arrived. Mehool
does the bare minimum help of lifting the mattress and then gets back to his bed. Nikhil is filled with
joy by the mattress and spends an hour properly decorating his side of the room. Mehool is angered
by Nikhil’s excitement and argues with Nikhil about the depraved state of student homes. Nikhil is
unable to defend himself but ends the argument by stating that homes are made not found.

JANUARY WEEK 5 – SATURDAY. Mehool sits alone in the room staring at the empty side of Nikhil’s
room. Mehool has sent all of Nikhil’s stuff back to his parents with his body. Only the mattress
remains. DOWNSTAIRS. Panshul finds a letter from the Canadian Immigration Department addressed
to Mehool. Panshul naively assumes that this could be a PR invitation. TICKING CLOCK

ACT 5

JANUARY WEEK 5 – SATURDAY. Mehool comes downstairs and finds Panshul staring at him with a
smile. He walks over and Panshul hands him the letter. Mehool reads the letter multiple times in
disbelief. Panshul tries to celebrate Mehool’s achievement of getting Canadian Citizenship but
Mehool stands numb. Panshul is confused by Mehool’s silence. Mehool informs Panshul that he can
move into the room, and the room is all his now. Mehool is going to leave Canada in 3 months.
Panshul is shocked by Mehool’s decision of rejecting his PR. Mehool does not give any explanation to
Panshul and starts moving his bags into their room. Panshul is confused with Mehool’s entire
personality but he is happy that he finally has a room. MOMENT OF VICTORY

All of Panshul’s luggage is now in Nikhil’s side of the room. Panshul is really happy to finally get his
room. Panshul starts unpacking his bags and starts decorating Nikhil’s side of the room as his own.
Mehool is lying on his bed and glances at Panshul’s exhausted yet joyous face as he puts his
bedsheet on the mattress. Mehool closes his eyes. CLIFFHANGER