Vikrant Massey is smitten with crime thrillers, and how. The actor has been focused on this genre in recent years with films such as A Death in the Gunj, Haseen Dillruba, Love Hostel, Forensic and web series like Mirzapur and Criminal Justice. In fact, his recent film—Gaslight, currently streaming on Hotstar—is once again a psychological thriller and murder mystery. “Crime thrillers allow me to give a proper graph to my character and experiment. Of course, there is the challenge of landing right.
There is also the fear of slipping into gimmick easily, as an actor or storyteller. It is a lot of hard work,” says the actor, who plays an overly ambitious man in the film, in which he shares screen with Sara Ali Khan and Chitrangda Singh for the first time. Elaborating on the character, he says, “A lot of people may not agree with his views, but he is a staunch believer in what he is. Gaslight is a classic whodunnit. It is almost Agatha Christie- or Sidney Sheldon-esque. We are hopeful that people will be invested in breaking and decoding the mystery,” he adds.
The promos of the film had a funny showdown between Khan and Massey, who take digs at each other based on their ‘preconceived notions’. For instance, she believes he cannot be a “massy actor”, whereas he thinks she is good for only the role of a “glam doll”. What does he really think of his co-star? “I have watched some of Sara’s films. In fact, she is one of the reasons why I said yes to Gaslight. Earlier I had notions about her lack of commitment, but I was wrong. The character she is playing is demanding. Both physically and mentally, it is an excruciating film. The film rides on her shoulders and she has done a fabulous job,” says the actor.
This year, Massey also completes a decade in cinema—he debuted in the Ranveer Singh-starrer Lootera in 2013. How has the journey been so far? “In the last 10 years, the Indian film industry has become more inclusive. It is a robust, democratic and pluralist industry where you get your due if you work hard. Look at Kantara or Jallikattu. World-class work is happening in our country. It is a great time to be in the movies,” says Massey, who has his hands full with quite a few diverse projects this year. He has just finished shooting for Mumbaikar, a Tamil remake co-starring Vijay Sethupathi and directed by Santosh Sivan.
“I also have Aditya Nimbalkar’s first directorial Sector 36, Blackout with Neeraj Kothari and 12th Fail, which is a very special film. I experienced withdrawal symptoms after we wrapped up the shoot; that’s how involved I was with the project,” says Massey, who attributes his growth as an actor to travelling, keeping good company, critical self-assessment and reading. “There are different world views and the beauty of this world is that it is so complex. One life is not enough to understand it and all you can do is try,” he does some self-assessment.