Gaslight movie review: A murder mystery that flickers more than it illuminates

Gaslight movie review: Lights, camera, action, and intrigue! Pavan Kirpalani's Gaslight takes us to a palatial mansion in Rajasthan, where a paraplegic Princess Meesha (Sara Ali Khan) and the long-estranged daughter of a king who is on a quest to uncover the truth about her missing father. While her father wanted to see her, he is not at home to receive her. She is instead greeted by king's young wife and her beautiful and mysterious step-mother Rukmini (Chitrangada Singh), and the cast of characters soon comes to include other the helpful and sympathetic estate manager Kapil (Vikrant Massey), the distant cousin Rana (Akshay Oberoi), a family doctor Dr. Shekhawat (Shishir Sharma), and the local police officer Ashok Tanwar (Rahul Dev).

The stage is set for a classic whodunit, with all the necessary components. But does the film deliver on the promise?

As often happens in mysteries, the truth remains elusive for Meesha until of course it is time to deliver the big twist. She feels that she is being led astray by everyone. Is her father missing? Dead? If he is in some other town as Rukmini claims, why is her mobile phone not reachable? If things were not bad enough, she is haunted by the silhouette of a mysterious man with, yes, a gaslight. Is that her father's ghost? Or is she going insane?

We are told through flashbacks that reveal the old king did not have an amicable relationship with Meesha's mother, who died by suicide at one point — and Meesha blames him for that. Thus, the estrangement. She left her ancestral home as a little girl, and is returning as a young woman.

The title of the film refers to the gaslight the ghostly figure wields as though a weapon, but it is also an unsubtle metaphor for gaslighting, when a person is psychologically manipulated into doubting their own grip on reality. Which seemingly happens with Meesha.

Gaslight is not a bad movie. The atmosphere is creepy enough, and the set design solid, so there is a nice sense of place here. The film is certainly well-made for a technical standpoint. Kirpalani infuses considerable tension in the story to keep one engaged. As unsolved questions pile up, the stakes get higher and people begin to die violently.

Gaslight tells the story through the eyes of Meesha, and thus when the inevitable rug, you hope, is pulled from under our feet, the resulting shock and surprise will affect us as well too.

But sadly, Gaslight is agonisingly predictable, and there can be no bigger sin than that for a whodunit. Despite the scarcity of clues, carefully doled out over the narrative, and misdirections, I expect everyone except somebody wholly new to whodunits will easily guess the first twist. And when half an hour is still to go, you realise the film might have one more surprise up its sleeve. But the final twist does not have anything that the storytelling led up to. But it does pull the metaphorical rug under your feet. So there's that.

Gaslight is like a well-dressed but bland dish, lacking the necessary spices to make it memorable. If you're looking for a gripping mystery to sink your teeth into, you may want to gasp at other options.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE