Exclusive: Sara Ali Khan, Chitrangda Singh, Vikrant Massey on Gaslight and the mystery genre

In Gaslight, Sara Ali Khan’s wheelchair-bound Meesha finds herself fearful in her own home after returning to her haveli in Rajasthan. Her father is missing and everyone around her seems to be up to something suspicious including her father’s second wife Rukmani (Chitrangda Singh) and caretaker Kapil (Vikrant Massey). The mystery thriller piqued the interest of its lead trio. It marks Sara’s first in the genre while Chitrangda and Vikrant are selective with the kind of roles they do. In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, the actors opened up about what went into making the film.

What kind of experiments did you want to do within this genre?

Sara: I think the fact that I did this genre was an experiment for me. I also think that it was such a new world. It was exciting to fully submit to Pavan (Kirpalani) sir and give in to the character. I also feel like I’m a high-spirited, loud girl so when that gets taken away from me, it’s exciting and challenging.

Chitrangda: What’s interesting is that she’s very obviously suspicious. But at the same time if that’s the only layer you play then it’s boring after a point. How many times can you look suspicious? So the challenge was to play Mini in so many different layers and emotions. The grey characters are the most interesting so if you can play that and humanise them as much as possible it’s amazing. Pavan (Kirpalani) wanted a very restrained performance, even the silences are important so sometimes you had to play with that.

Vikrant: It’s not a unidimensional character. Especially in a space like this where you have a psychological thriller. You need to have multiple layers of it. A lot of it is already given to us on a platter in the writing but you work on it and humanise the character like Chitrangda said to make him more relatable and entertaining. There are challenges that come with every role but this is a story that needs to build intrigue. So you can really go out and experiment.

What goes into wheelchair acting and making it convincing?

Sara: I think sitting in the wheelchair and practising every chance that I had was a huge part of the process. There wasn’t that much time that I had between Laxman sir’s next and this film so I made the most of the time to try and make it my own. Manoeuvring it was challenging. Honestly more than that, knowing that I don’t have the ability to run or move or jump in reaction was difficult. Especially in this genre, they said fight or flight are the reactions so when flight is not an option that’s a challenge.

What goes into building and maintaining the tension for a psychological thriller?

Chitrangda: I don’t think there’s a trick to it. I’d give a lot of credit to our direction team for the atmosphere on set. The whole film is about tension so you can’t lose that emotion. And you can’t jump from one scene to another. So you have to keep the continuity. In that way, he was very conscious and he made sure there was a certain vibe. He’d play music on set and had a soundtrack for important scenes just for reference. He pretty much did that for us.

What is your process of snapping in and out of character?

Sara: With Meesha’s character specifically, I realised that I don’t have that much personal fodder to give her. Somewhere down the line, there’s always a certain strain of Sara that I can connect. Even Rinku in Atrangi Re was very different from who I am but there are still parts of me that I could imagine. Physically, psychologically and emotionally, Meesha is so removed from me that the cultivation of imagination rather than putting yourself in a situation that isn’t conceivable becomes more handy and necessary. That is what attracted me the most. I still remember that earlier on in my career, in Kedarnath I was young and new, I would imagine if Sara was here how would she react? It wasn’t that difficult to imagine. But here I can’t imagine being in a wheelchair and living with people I can’t trust. But Meesha had all those things. So surrendering to a world where you are an alien becomes very important.

Chitrangda: It overlaps but in this particular film I found it a little exhausting. Like it’s Day 23 and you have to go back into the same character. Sometimes that gets tiring and you just want to go back to your vanity van and laugh at something. It’s a small but not able part of it.

What are your biggest takeaways from working with each other?

Sara: I think the surety with which Chitrangda performs is impressive. And I think the subtlety with which Vikrant performs.

Chitrangda: With Sara, she has this amazing energy on screen. That’s what I loved about Atrangi Re. The presence of the person plays a part even before you come to dialogues. I love that. And I even like how subtle Vikrant is. What I like about performances sometimes is when you can’t see the effort. That’s something that Vikrant does well.

Vikrant: With Sara, there are so many things but I admire her confidence. I wish I had that. I think I know her as a person and her worldview is fantastic. And Chitrangda’s grace and poise.

What are some of your favourite whodunnits?

Sara: I loved How To Get Away with Murder. I was watching it and I loved it as a show. It was addictively great.
Chitrangda: I love Dan Brown. I love when there’s factual stuff mixed with fiction. Angels and Demons was great too.

Vikrant: I oscillate between many things. So when I’m reading I read two mystery books at a time to take a break.