Sanchita
Gaslight begins on an interesting note but the tension in the plot fizzles out owing to its glacial pace. It doesn’t fully embrace the potential madness it could unleash with the ‘gaslight‘ concept, especially in the context of a murder mystery.
Read Full Gaslight Movie Review
Rating: 2.5/5
Director: Pavan Kirpalani
Cast: Sara Ali Khan, Vikrant Massey, Chitrangda Singh, Akshay Oberoi
Runtime: 1h 51m
Storyline:
Princess Meesha (Sara) comes from a traumatic childhood and shares a troubled relationship with her estranged father after her mother commits suicide. An accident has confined Meesha to the wheelchair.
Decades later, an adult Meesha, is finally ready to start things over with her father and returns to the palatial mansion at his request. But curiously, he happens to be missing. Meesha starts noticing some shady happenings in the house – a mysterious hooded figure resembling her father’s silhouette seems to be haunting her. She is convinced he’s murdered and even claims to spot his corpse.
However, people at the estate seem hellbent on proving her delusional. Meesha suspects her cunning, enigmatic stepmother Rukmini (Chitrangda) of foul play, trying to make a power-grab at the royal estate.
Her father’s loyal servant-estate manager Kapil (Vikrant) seems to know more than he’s letting on. We have a few more suspicious characters in the mix – a lovelorn Inspector who’s apparently pining after Rukmini, and Meesha’s rich, spoilt brat cousin who is clearly up to no good.
What’s true, what’s false? Watch Gaslight to find out –
What Do We Think:
Gaslight is one hell of a slow-burn, with a plot twist that might seem disappointing and predictable to some but might be right up someone else’s alley.
It starts off on an interesting note, but the unease of the atmosphere fizzles out due to the glacial pace of the movie, barring a few good jumpscares. Also, you’re bound to be squinting for 60% of the movie, given the abundance of shots shrouded in darkness.
The concept of gaslighting is interesting – psychologically manipulating someone so much they start questioning their own sanity. In the context of a murder mystery, the ‘gaslighting’ portion of the film had the potential to get more dark and messy but it feels like they squandered it. The film leads up to something else and goes in a different direction altogether….
Sara Ali Khan’s role in this movie is layered enough and she is convincing in some vulnerable scenes but her ‘horror’ acting still feels terribly flat and one-toned. She is outshined by Chitrangada, who oozes a confident sensuality and carries a sinister undertone, but alas they’ve done her character dirty!
Vikrant is in good form in the 1st half but seems rather over-the-top in 2nd half. Akshay Oberoi is effortlessly natural, pity his screen time is limited.
Overall, Gaslight had the potential to play with psychological manipulation more but it ends up feeling a little predictable and lacklustre by the end.
Hit Or Miss:
Streaming on Disney+Hotstar, catch it if you’re in the mood for a SLOWWW-BURN mystery thriller.
