''Petromax'' is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film written and directed by

Vijaya Prasad Vijaya Prasad is an Indian actor, director, producer, and writer. Career He started his career in Kannada TV serial Silli Lalli as comedy actor and writer. Later he entered into directional profession. Sidlingu his first directional film. Fi ...

. The film is produced by Sathish Ninasam and Vijaya Prasad under the banner Sathish Picture House. It stars

Sathish Ninasam Shiva, known by his screen name Sathish Ninasam, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. Having made his film debut with ''Madesha'' (2008), Sathish appeared in small but significant roles in films like ''Manasaare'' (2009), ''Panchar ...

and

Hariprriya Shruthi Chandrasena, known professionally as Haripriya, is an Indian actress and model who chiefly works in Kannada films, in addition to a few Tamil and Telugu films. Haripriya is currently engaged to Kannada actor Vasista.N. Simha. Early life ...

alongside

Karunya Ram Karunya Ram is an Indian actress who works in Kannada-language cinema. She is known for performing in the 2015 film ''Vajrakaya ''Vajrakaya'' is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language action film directed by Harsha (director), Harsha. It stars Shi ...

. The story of the film revolves around the lives of four orphans and how they find love in an older woman.

Synopsis

Petromax Petromax is a brand name for a type of pressurised paraffin lamp ( US: kerosene lamp) that uses a mantle. They are as synonymous with the paraffin lamp in Continental Europe as Tilley lamps are in Britain and Coleman lanterns are in the United ...

is a brand name for a type of pressurised

paraffin lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...

that uses a

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

. Petromax symbolises light, which is essential in the lives of four orphans around whom the plot revolves.

Cast

as "Oodubatti" Shivappa *

as Meenakshi * Arun as "Agarbatti" Maadappa *

Nagabhushana Nagabhushana N S, also known as Nagabhushana, is an Indian film actor, who has worked predominantly in Kannada movie industry. Nagabhushana made his debut with the Kannada film ''Sankashta Kara Ganapathi''. Career Nagabhushan joined GPIER, an ...

as Krishnamurthy *

as Kavitha Krishnamurthy *

Vijayalakshmi Singh Vijayalakshmi Singh is an Indian actress, director, costume designer and producer in Kannada. She has acted in more than 50 Kannada films and is actively involved in television projects. Early life Vijayalakshmi was born in Mysore to film pe ...

as Sudha Murthy *

Sudha Belawadi Sudha Belawadi is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry, and a theatre artist in Karnataka, India. Some of the notable films of Sudha Belawadi as actress include ''Mathadana'' (2001), ''Mungaru Male'' (2006), ''Moggina Manasu'' (2008), ...

as L Shanthakumari *

Achyuth Kumar Achyuth Kumar is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. Born in the town of Belur, in the district of Hassan and brought up in Tiptur. He graduated in bachelor of commerce from the Kalpatharu First Grade College, which was t ...

as Meenakshi's Father *

Padmaja Rao Padmaja Rao is an Indian actress, TV serial director and producer in Karnataka, India. She is a versatile actor known for playing a wide variety of character roles in various film genres. Some of the notable films of Padmaja Rao as an actress i ...

as Meenakshi's Mother * K S Sridhar as Anathashrama Head * Ashwin Hassan as Surendranath *

Suman Ranganath Suman Ranganath is an Indian model and actress. She has starred in Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. Personal life Suman Ranganath was born in Tumakuru, Karnataka. She was married to Bunty Walia, an Indian film pro ...

as Subbalakshmi, Cameo appearance *

Veena Sundar Veena Sunder is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada films and soaps. For her performance in the movie Aa Karaala Ratri, she won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2018. Personal life Veena married to actor Sundar. Th ...

as Petromax, Cameo appearance * Mohan Juneja as Rangayana Ragu, Real Estate Agent

Production

was cast for the film in October 2020 alongside

. It is Hariprriya's second film with director Vijaya Prasad, after ''

Neer Dose ''Neer Dose'' is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language black comedy film produced by T. Goswami and Shashikala Balaji, written and directed by Vijaya Prasad. It stars Jaggesh and Hariprriya alongside Suman Ranganathan and H. G. Dattatreya. It was one of ...

''. Principal photography began in October 2020 in Mysore. The filming was 50 percent completed by the end of October 2020. Filming was completed in the first week of January 2021. With the release of trailer on 20 September 2021, the post production work on film was completed. The film was submitted to the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

(CBFC) where the film received

A certificate The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

Reception

Sunayana Suresh reviewing for ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and praised the performances of Sathish Ninasam, Hariprriya, Karunya Ram, Arun and Nagabhushana along with other supporting cast. Praising dialogues and performances Suresh wrote, "the film wins with its dialogues, characterisations and performances - all of them go hand in glove". Appreciating the editing and the score she stated, "editing deserves a special mention for mixing direct narration and scenes seamlessly, as also the background score, which is quirky and adds to the humour." Concluding, Suresh said, "the filmmaker definitely needs to be lauded for pushing the envelope in his space by choosing to speak about some relevant topics in his trademark style." A Sharadhaa reviewing for ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 and wrote, "Petromax, highlighting light and life, is an honest and bold attempt by the director that ends with a hint of a sequel."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title Indian comedy-drama films Films shot in Mysore 2022 films 2022 comedy-drama films 2020s Kannada-language films Films scored by Anoop Seelin Films directed by Vijaya Prasad