OPENING SCENE
[ ARYAN'S BEDROOM - EVENING]
In the humming heart of modern Mumbai, lived a boy cocooned in screens and stories. His name... was Aryan Mehta.
Aryan (17), eyes glued to his tablet, headphones on, half-listening to an online history class.
TEACHER..
"...and thus ended the reign of the Vijayanagara Empire..."
Aryan clicks mute. Opens a different tab-a fantasy game with swords and palaces. His eyes brighten.
SCENE 2: OUTSIDE MUMBAI
[EXT. MUMBAI STREET - DAY]
A chaotic rush of traffic, honking, voices. Aryan walks home from school, lost in thought, clutching a worn-out book bag.
NARRATOR
He was a quiet boy. Not popular. Not loud. But inside, he burned with questions-of the past, of power... and of purpose.
SCENE 3: SCHOOL LIBRARY
[INT. SCHOOL LIBRARY - DUSK]
Aryan wanders past dusty shelves. A book catches his eye-leather-bound, ancient, with a faded golden cover.
LIBRARIAN
That one's been here longer than the building itself. No one reads it.
Aryan opens the book. Close-up on illustrations of a golden city-Kaligarh-and a boy with a crown.
ARYAN (softly)
Kaligarh...
A flash of golden shimmer pulses from the page. Aryan blinks. The lights flicker.
SCENE 4: ARYAN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Aryan sits cross-legged, the mysterious manuscript open in his lap. He traces the text with his finger.
NARRATOR
The boy who once read stories... was now reading his fate.
The golden ink glows brighter. A gust of wind blows through the closed window. Papers fly.
ARYAN
W-what the...
The walls tremble. The manuscript's pages whip in a whirlwind.
Sound: Deep rumbling. Ancient chanting faintly in the background.
Flash to BLACK. Silence.
SCENE 5: TRANSITION
Golden light pulses in darkness. A child's breathing, panicked. Then stillness.
SCENE 6: A NEW WORLD
[ROYAL BEDCHAMBER - EARLY MORNING]
Soft flute music. Light leaks through silk curtains. Aryan lies in a large carved wooden bed.
ARYAN (groggy)
Ugh... where am I?
A servant girl approaches, bows deeply.
SERVANT GIRL
Rajkumar Aryaveer... you are awake.
ARYAN
Wait. What did you call me?
He sits up-he's wearing fine robes, gold embroidery. His reflection in a bronze mirror shows a bindi on his forehead.
He touches it in awe.
ARYAN (soft whisper)
What is happening...?
SCENE 7: FINAL MOMENT - THE HOOK
[EXT. PALACE BALCONY - CONTINUOUS]
Aryan stumbles outside. Before him lies the grand kingdom of Kaligarh-golden towers, elephant processions, flags fluttering.
NARRATOR
He was no longer Aryan Mehta of Mumbai.
NARRATOR
He was Prince Aryaveer... heir to a dying kingdom.
FADE TO BLACK.
[TITLE CARD]
THE LAST PRINCE OF KALIGARH
Episode 1: "City of Screens"
"Next time: A sick king, a broken kingdom, and a boy out of time."