Gaslight
Director: Pavan Kirpalani
Cast: Sara Ali Khan, Chitrangda Singh, Vikrant Massey, Rahul Dev, and Akshay Oberoi
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar
Rating: 2.5 stars
Director Pavan Kirpalani has a penchant for marrying psychological issues with elements of horror and suspense in a dark, almost Agatha Christie-like setting. In Phobia, it was a gifted artiste dealing with agorophobia and a supposedly murderous neighbour. In Gaslight, it is a paraplegic woman who is convinced her father is dead and she is being gaslit into insanity. If there were points for concept alone, the film would rate quite high but alas, executin matters too. And that is where Gaslight falls flat, riddling itself with tired tropes from Bollywood thrillers of the past.
Gaslight is the story of Misha (Sara Ali Khan), a paraplegic ‘princess’ who returns to her ancestral home to reunite with her estranged father. She is welcomed by her stepmother Rukmini (Chitrangda Singh) and informed that her father – the Raja – is ‘away on business. However, a few stray mytserious incidents convince her that the Raja is dead and she is being gaslit by Rukmini into believing that everything is in her head. With the help of the Raja’s trusted aide Kapil (Vikrant Massey), she must solve the mystery before she loses her mind, or worse, her life.
Setting the film in a palace in Rajasthan with vast spaces and dark alleys works, as it gives it a very Baskervilles and Poirot vibe. Except that the film feels it needs to be really dark. Some of the scenes end up being reminiscent of the final season of Game of Thrones where all one can see is their own reflection in the screen. Coherence takes a back seat in favour of aesthetics, sadly.
The film does have redeeming qualities, the chief among them is some smart writing, in parts. Like any good thriller, the film leaves enough bread crumbs and hints for eagle-eyed viewers to follow and try to decipher the mystery themselves. Some of these hints are subtle and smart while others are too in-your-face. The downside is that the red herrings are too obvious, which sort of makes the mystery less mysterious than it should be.
And yes, the actors have done well. Sara Ali Khan has a difficult role as the restrained, contained Misha who does not always allow emotions to bubble up to the surface. And yet, she manages to convey a range of emotions despite the limitations. Chitrangda Singh delivers arguably the strongest performance in the film as the femme fatale who is both conniving and vulnerable. Vikrant Massey is good but the actor has done much better work several times before this to be commended for his act here.
But despite the partially smart script and the performances, Gaslight drags because of its rather slow pacing. A few jump scares here and there aisde, it does not keep you on the edge of your seat or even invests you in what the characters are going through. That means that by the time the climax arrives, you are on a predictable path. Still, the film does manage to surprise you with one final twist. And then, like clockwork, it descends into the predictable trope territory yet again.
