Alisha "Al" Khanna, a 30-year-old yoga instructor is working on an app but struggling to find investors while providing for her boyfriend Karan Arora, an unemployed writer.
She also suffers from anxiety, dealing with her mother Sonali's suicide as a child, and is estranged from her father Vinod who she blames for her mom's depression.
Alisha's cousin Tia "Ti" is engaged to Zain Oberoi and invites the couple to their Alibaug beach house.
When she discovers that Karan has shared his draft with Tia but not her, even though she had been asking to read it for a long time she is extremely hurt, and lets Zain into her life, and they begin an affair.
Alisha's yoga studio is sealed by the investigating officers from Zain's company, and she confronts him, in front of his co-workers, during a business meeting.
Tia agrees to mortgage the beach house in Alibaug to save the company, but Zain sells it instead, convinced he can buy it back within a year.
Zain sees Tia's incoming call on Alisha's phone and asks her to decline; when she refuses, he attempts to push her overboard, but slips and hits his head on the railing of the yacht, drowning in the sea, as a result.
[7] In December 2019, Padukone went to the office of Dharma Productions and met Batra, where a script discussion about the film was held for a few minutes.
[13] Initially, filming was to proceed in Sri Lanka, however, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the shoot was delayed by six months and moved to Goa, owing to its similar landscapes.
[26] Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave the film a rating of 4/5 and wrote, "Gehraiyaan has an enigmatic air from its opening scene and gradually takes on an additional layer of unrelenting foreboding.
"[27] Sanjana Jadhav of Pinkvilla gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and wrote, "Batra's Gehraiyaan is a deep dive into individual and family's past choices, relationships and why we do, what we do.
"[28] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times Of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Batra tries to decode complex human behaviour and its consequences, through a story that's tough to narrate.
"[31] Roktim Rajpal of Deccan Herald rated the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Gehraiyaan makes an impact due to the effective screenplay and natural performances.
"[32] Simran Singh of DNA India rated the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Although the plot of Gehraiyaan isn't novel, the treatment of the subject leaves an impression.
"[33] Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Padukone embodies to perfection the Gehraiyaan in the title.
"[35] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3/5 stars and wrote, "Gehraiyaan is a mature relationship drama with niche appeal, bravura performances and an exciting climax.
"[36] Phuong Le of The Guardian rated the film 3 out of 5 and said, "While the lurid twists and turns are enjoyable in a '90s erotic thriller kind of way, the sudden shift towards suspense doesn't hamper Padukone's performance.
"[39] Shantanu Ray Chaudhari of The Free Press Journal gave the film 1 out of 5 and wrote, "The writing veers between the trite and the ridiculous.