Gaslight review:- Vikrant Massey shines in this dawdling murder mystery

By:- Aakruti Bagla

Directed by:- Pavan Kripalani

Cast:- Sara Ali Khan, Vikrant Massey, Chitrangda Singh, Akshay Oberoi, Rahul Dev, Shishir Sharma

Duration:- 110 minutes

Rating:- 2.5/5

Story

Meesha returns to her ancestral home years after an accident struck her family and she gets bound to a wheelchair. She is welcomed by her stepmother Rukmini, with whom she shares a strange and hostile relationship. Upon returning, she is eager to meer her father Ranjit Singh Gaikwad who is apparently missing since days. Misha, who is busy looking for her father, finds him dead in mysterious circumstances. Doubting it to be a murder, Sara sets on a journey to find her father’s murderer where she comes across a lot of terrifying instances. What happens next and how she finds the murderer, is what the movie is all about.

Review

Pavan Kripalani can be credited for creating some out of the most spine-chilling horror films like Ragini MMS, Darr @ Mall, Phobia to name a few. But his latest film Gaslight attempts to take the thrill factor a notch higher. But, does it succeed? Let’s find out.

Director Pavan Kripalani does well to build the ambience of a thriller, by slowly taking the audience into the dark world of twisted characters. He also tactfully infuses the reasoning of the protagonists, without deviating much from the core conflict of the film.

However, the biggest challenge for a murder mystery is to weave a watertight plot, and Gaslight is not up to the mark in that aspect. There are a few occasions in the movie when you sense a convenient lack of logic.
It’s the lazy writing that dilutes the overall experience of this otherwise riveting thriller.

As the film proceeds, we get to see ample amount of twists and turns that are surprising. But things seem to go for a toss as the reasoning behind the motive seems absurd. For instance, there are not one, but three suspects behind Raja Saheb’s muder. However, motive of none of them seemed hard-hitting. In a nutshell, what happens is engaging, but that’s not justified well.

Even the overall story, has no novel factor, but screenplay is gripping enough to keep you hooked due to the terrific camera work by Aman Jain and Navin Chandra, and thrilling background score laced with jump-scares.

Despite a runtime of 1 hour 50 minutes, the film seemed slow-paced.

When it comes to performances, Vikrant Massey steals the show with his nuanced act. He makes an impact by handling his unconventional character with subtlety and maturity. While Sara Ali Khan makes sure she puts her best foot forward yet again, at some places it seemed like she lost the sheen. Talking about Chitrangada Singh, she pulls of the complexity of her character quite effortlessly.
Rahul Dev, Shishir Sharma and Akshay Oberoi left an impact despite limited screen time. While Shataf Ahmed Figar didn’t had much screen presence.

On the whole, this genre has a very niche audience and is definitely not for the faint-hearted.