Gaslight Review: Boring whodunit devoid of thrill or excitement
Gaslight Movie Rating: 1.5 Stars
Just watched Gaslight movie on Disney Plus Hotstar. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Sara Ali Khan, Vikrant Massey, Shataf Figar and Chitrangada Singh
Director: Pavan Kirpalani
Release Date: 31st March 2023 on Disney Plus Hotstar
Story: Movie revolves around Meesha (Sara Ali Khan) who is a wheelchair bound woman and estranged daughter returns to her ancestral palace after several years upon her father Raja Ratan Singh’s (Shataf Figar) request. She is welcomed by her stepmother Rukmani (Chitrangadha Singh) who tells Meesha that her father is out of town to solve a strike issue in one of their factories.
She is later introduced to their estate manager Kapil (Vikrant Massey). Very soon, Meesha starts experiencing some supernatural and mysterious elements in the palace. Meesha tells Rukmani and Kapil that she saw her father in the palace. Meesha believes her father is dead, and his spirit is trying to contact her.
Soon, she realizes that police officer Ashok (Rahul Dev) is very friendly to Rukmani. There’s also a doctor, Dr. Shekhawat (Shishir Sharma) who appears to be very close to Rukmani. There’s her dad’s relative Rana (Akshay Oberoi) too. Who has murdered Ratan Sinh Gaikwad? Has he been murdered at all?
Positives
1. Performances
2. Cinematography
3. Few thrilling moments
Negatives
1. Length
2. Screenplay
3. Story
4. Climax
5. Direction
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie in my free time because trailer looks very engaging and intriguing.
Wheelchair bound princess Meesha returns to her palace Mayagarh in Morbi to discover that her estranged father is missing. She suspects a foul play while her stepmom thinks of her as delusional. What’s the truth?
Gaslight is an unofficial remake of the 1961 British Film ‘Taste Of Fear’. Sadly in 2023, the story has become so predictable that you’re neither scared nor thrilled. The plot is too predictable right from the very initial montage shots when the little girl is seen enjoying her birthday party. As the screenplay constantly keeps focussing on the two little girls more than any of the other kids at the party, you’re left wondering whether or not this would have a connection later on. To add to that, the two little girls look pretty much like twins, which makes you wonder whether this will have a twin angle or not. And when the climax unfolds, you’re not a cent per cent correct, but you know you were in the right path. This is just one of the many things that block your mind from thinking out of the box and when in the climax you get to know what you were thinking was actually right, the entire fun of watching the film just dies down.
Apart from performances, cinematography is the other saving grace of this film. He has managed to bring in the feel of horror to perfection. With the low lights and intense fast-moving shots will grab your attention. Even though 90 per cent of the film has been shot inside a mansion, there is not a single shot where you feel that it’s not well-lit and you’re not able to understand the story properly. The way he showcased the rural landscape in some of the outdoor shots makes it worth the watch.
Overall, movie is a whodunit devoid of thrill or excitement. To add to that, the film started off as a horror film, but there was barely any horror element by the middle of it. At the most, it is mildly thrilling. It’s good that it has been premiered on an OTT platform because it would’ve met with a disastrous fate at the box-office. Just great cinematography and a good background score aren’t enough. Overall, if you’ve nothing better to watch this weekend, then only tread this way. Otherwise, you can simply skip it. My view on this movie Not Recommended.
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