What Is the Story About?
Disney Plus Hotstar’s latest Hindi original film ‘Gaslight’ centres on a wheelchair-bound young girl Meesha (Sara Ali Khan), who returns to her ancestral palace in Morbi, Gujarat, after fifteen long years, only to find her father Raja Ratan Singh Gaekwad (Shataf Figar) missing. Her stepmother Rukmani (Chitrangada Singh) tries to pacify her fears regarding her father, but she senses that things are amiss.
However, her step-mom, along with Meesha’s distant cousin Rana Jai Singh (Akshay Oberoi), the estate caretaker Kapil (Vikrant Massey), the family physician Dr. Shekhawat (Shishir Sharma) and the local SP Ashok Tanwar (Rahul Dev) gaslight her into believing that she’s imagining it all.
Gaslight is written by Pavan Kirpalani and Neha Veena Sharma, directed by Pavan Kirpalani, and co-produced by Tips Industries and 12th Street Entertainment.
Performances?
The Sara Ali Khan we see in Gaslight is a vast improvement from the loud, hammy Sara Ali Khan of her previous films. As Meesha, she delivers a quiet, restrained and beautifully internalised performance. Sara Ali Khan adds gravitas to her character, a quality that has always been missing from her earlier performances.
Vikrant Massey is competent as ever in a decidedly bland and poorly-written role. Chitrangada Singh is stiff and stilted as Rukmani. It’s a wasted opportunity for the pretty actress. A more accomplished actress would have been able to lend more nuances to the character. Akshay Oberoi and Rahul Dev make the best of their short roles. Shishir Sharma is competent as always.
Analysis
Gaslight is a film saddled with a script that is too confused to be coherent. The scriptwriters can’t seem to decide whether they want the film to be a psychological thriller or a supernatural drama, a horror story or a straightforward mystery.
What do they do then – stuff their film with bits and pieces of each, that’s what they do. In the process, they sacrifice the most crucial element of a good script — a believable story that manages to deliver convincing shocks and surprises, twists and turns, in a way that you never see ’em coming.
In Gaslight, you can see the suspense from miles away. The writers throw ample red herrings along the way, casting suspicion on all and sundry; but you can see them for what they are — again — from miles away.
Finally, as if the damp squib of a suspense reveal wasn’t enough, we’re subjected to yet another twist or two, just before the end – each as uninteresting as the rest of the story. Loopholes abound, adding to the feeling of dissatisfaction.
That said, Gaslight is a film that is high on atmospherics. The film starts off well, and is imbued with a superb and spooky eerieness at the beginning. The creepiness is quite affecting, while the sound design and visual imagery are top notch. The huge, rambling mansion, with creaky floorboards and misty hidden crevices, makes the perfect setting for the story to unravel.
Those, however, are the only good things about Gaslight. All style, zero substance is the perfect way to describe the film. If only the makers had paid more attention to the story and its telling, Gaslight would be a movie of a different level altogether.
Music and Other Departments?
Gaurav Chatterji’s background score for Gaslight is perfect – spooky and atmospheric, without being in your face or grating to the ears. Anirban Sengupta’s sound design is top notch, and lends a particularly uncanny feel to the story. Ragul Herian Dharuman cinematography is the outstanding element of Gaslight. Each frame has been carefully created, with an eye for detail and composition. Chandan Arora’s editing is flawless
Highlights?
Atmospherics
cinematography and sound design,
at least in the first half.
Drawbacks?
The writing is sorely disappointing
Laughable
suspense.
Did I Enjoy It?
Not that much.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, but with huge reservations.
Gaslight Movie Review by Binged Bureau