Disney has been dominating the genre of fairytales and fantasy fiction, so the genre of thrillers could be challenging, and the movie Gaslight proves it. Sara Ali Khan plays Meesha, a paraplegic patient who returns home after ages to meet her family. She experiences eerie moments inside the palatial home. One incident leads to another and there is a revelation of true intentions of her family members.

Hotstar must refer to a dictionary before coming up with these themes because clearly they do not seem to comprehend the definition of gaslighting. Sara Ali Khan(Meesha) is not a victim of gaslighting, neither are other characters. The plot is bleak and uninteresting. Sara Ali Khan’s acting is commendable. Vikrant Massey is a versatile actor who fits like a fiddle in any role given to him.

OTT platforms have better movies, but Hotstar is yet get better in different genres when fantasy fiction has been their strength all the while. The movie is worth a one-time watch for stupendous performances. But the story does not have anything new to offer. By the end of the movie you understand that nobody is a victim of gaslighting. This is a haphazard attempt at mystery-horror-thriller genre. Hotstar has not produced the movie, but looking at most of their genres produced by them, anything other than fantasy, romance, sci-fi, is their Achilles foot.

Clearly the producer and the screenwriter have not understood the definition of Gaslighting and nothing about the plot seems to justify the title. The same was the case with the movie Helicopter Eela. The producer and the screenwriters did not comprehend the meaning of helicopter parent because the movie is more about the mother fulfilling her unfulfilled goals with the pretext of being protective about her child.

This is a failed attempt of Bollywood times two using psychological themes which is a very Hollywood thingie and certainly doesn’t seem to be your cup of tea. Not discouraging makers who make a decent attempt at making good movies sliding away from the typical masala movies. But, they could do better and put in more gumption when writing stories with psychological themes. This movies fails to quench your curiosity or satiate your interest for a thriller movie.

Coming to Hotstar. It is good that making an attempt to create content in umpteen genres, but they could still do better. They are playing it safe with content, they lack depth and ‘the sparkle,’ you know what I mean by ‘the sparkle?’ the crux of the plot that holds the story together. Content on most OTT channels is good enough, but still they have a long way to go. What works best for a creative filmmaker is these platforms are open to creating novel content. So, yeah, there’s a lot more that could have happened with this plot, but it’s lost in bits and pieces in oblivion.