Vikrant Massey on Gaslight: This was a physically, mentally excruciating experience

"I love my job. This is such a lovely, unique life where I get to play so many different parts," says Vikrant Massey

Director Pavan Kirpalani’s latest psychological thriller Gaslight (Disney+ Hotstar), is a complicated story thriller set against a royal backdrop in Gujarat. Starring Sara Ali Khan, Chitrangda Singh, Akshay Oberoi, Rahul Dev and Vikrant Massey, who plays a character quite unlike those he’s been associated with.

From A Death in the Gunj to Chhapaak, Haseen Dilruba and Forensic, Massey has traversed a range of impactful characters. In Gaslight, he plays the royal family’s estate manager Kapil. But things take an eerie and dark turn when the head of the family disappears and dead bodies begin stacking up.

Massey spoke about the whodunnit and what attracted him to this pivotal role.

You've said in the past that you are drawn to characters that you can relate to. In what way could you relate to Kapil?

Kapil is a very ambitious guy. He is also very loyal, and I would want to believe so am I. There are so many things which are similar. But you need so much restraint, especially when you're catering to a film in this genre where you cannot divulge much. So yes, a few basic traits remain the same. And yes, I very firmly believe that I would want to play characters that I relate to, but not all the time, because I'm in the business of entertainment. There are so many characters that are far away from my personality, but I still love doing them. There are so many different types of people out there, I cannot go out saying he is not like me, so I won’t play him. That is where the challenge lies, to do parts that are far removed from your own personality. There are days when you're playing characters which are close to you, there are days playing characters removed from your own personality. That's the fun of it. I love my job. This is such a lovely, unique life where I get to play so many different parts. You also get to grow within as you play different parts because there are so many things about yourself that you realise when you're playing different parts, different personalities. It’s a work in progress all the time where you're picking up many things on the way but also shedding many things about yourself or your notions or your ideologies.

How did this part push you as an actor?

The space itself – as a psychological thriller, murder mystery - means there is a lot of action. Physically, it was excruciating. Mentally, it was excruciating. This particular performance of mine, I want to believe, involved a lot of restraint. Not just me, but Sara and Chitrangda, too. It is a very restrained world. There are these silences which are actually so loaded. So it involves a completely different approach. As every film does, of course, every difference does. But here was a character that I was honestly never offered before, though I've done thrillers. I jumped at the opportunity the moment I finished the script. I knew I had to be a part of it because nobody wanted to present me as someone like Kapil. I hope I have done a decent job and people enjoy watching the film.

Pavan Kirpalani has a penchant for the genre, having previously directed Ragini MMS and Phobia. What was it like working with him?

He really specialises in this particular space. He’s fabulous at it. We have a mutual admiration for our work. He’s been kind enough to reach out to me after watching a few of my films and appreciating them and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Phobia. We have wanted to collaborate a couple of times earlier, but things didn't materialise for multiple reasons. When he reached out to me with Gaslight, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It’s a classic whodunnit, murder mystery. But what also pleasantly irked me was that I was not able to guess the twists and turns. It was such a beautiful read that before I had turned the last page of the script, I knew I wanted to do this. Plus Pavan was directing it. His world-building is so specific. And not a lot of people do that. So it was a tremendous opportunity for me to do something I haven't done before, to go out there and tell the story in a specific space. If you go by data, people are intrigued by thrillers and a lot of people enjoy watching them. So, I think everything fell into place.

The film is very location specific. What was the shooting experience like?

It was fabulous. Yes, it is location based. The palace itself is a character. We shot in the Wankaner Palace in Gujarat which has this historical significance. It’s a certified heritage property, so there is so much history attached to it. I was blown away by the space itself. We shot there for nearly 27 days. The location that also sort of gave that added edge to an exciting script.

"This was a character that I was never offered before, though I've done thrillers," says Massey

We know the word gaslight as this woke, new age, word in the public discourse. But what is the significance of Gaslight as the title of the film?

I think you partially said it. Gaslight is open to your own interpretation and I hope we have arrived at that, because that was the idea. Yes, you do have that classic gaslight lantern, but it is also your own interpretation. This is a psychological thriller, so somewhere down the line everyone is gaslighting each other. As in real life, there are certain grey areas; there is no black or white. Gaslighting is a very fairly new phenomenon in our culture and in our public discourse. It is about that, too, but if you just want to go out there and watch the film without delving or diving deep into the mental health and psychological aspects of it, just see gaslight as the lantern.

And finally, what’s next for you?

Gaslight is out now on Disney+ Hotstar. We have finished shooting Santosh Sivan’s Mumbaikar which also features Vijay Sethupathi. Hopefully it will be out this year. Then I have Sector 36 which is a beautiful film that I am so proud of. I have Blackout, which is an out-and-out comedy. Then I am really excited about Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba which is more pulpy and edgier than before. I'm working with Taapsee Pannu again and we've got Sunny Kaushal Kaushal joining us with Jayprad Desai directing and there’s 12th Fail directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. I am looking forward to all these films releasing in the next 18 months.