Petromax review: Sathish Ninasam’s adult comedy is a tad too preachy
The Vijayaprasad directorial is also a serious social commentary
2.5/5
Jul 15, 2022
A still from Petromax
Petromax
Story: Four adult orphans – Oodubatti Shivappa (Sathish Ninasam), Agarbatti Madappa (Arun Kumar), Krishnamurthy (Nagabhushana) and Kavita Krishnamurthy (Karunya Ram) – have grown up together and are close friends who can tell each other anything under the sun. When the time comes for them to move out from the orphanage, they encounter the same problem that most unmarried people have – no one wants them as tenants. More so because they are three guys and one gal, a combination that no landlord wants to entertain. But when real estate agent Meenakshi (Hariprriya) comes along, she thinks there’s merit in their case and sets out to find them accommodation. Who will give them a place to stay?
Review: Director Vijayaprasad has a reputation in the Kannada industry for his brand of cinema that has insane amounts of sex jokes. His latest, Petromax, belongs to the same genre, which is also why it was certified ‘A’ with no cuts. This is not a film for family viewing. That being the case, why is it so message driven then? An adult comedy that spends just as much time on its double entendre as it does in driving home the point that one can be an orphan even when one supposedly has family, and the importance of treating the elders in the family with love and respect, etc. is a truly confusing mix.
My point is simple – if you are making a film that drops double entendre with every second sentence, you obviously have a target audience in mind; one that wants to laugh and have a good time. This is not an audience that wants a lesson in morality, especially if it comes from a post-coital couple. Why not keep it simple then? The Censor Board is anyway not going to give you grace marks for incorporating social messages in an adult comedy. Would it be so unthinkable to have a start-to-finish adult comedy that’s just fun and nothing more? Why assume that audiences really want to pay and come to a movie hall for an emotional social commentary?
In this film, Vijayaprasad gets the ladies to do most of the heavy lifting as far as the comedy goes. Karunya Ram gets to be the X-rated motormouth and Hariprriya chips in too. But just because the girls are saying it doesn’t mean that the jokes are any less provocative.
Verdict: If you like Vijayaprasad’s brand of comedy, you will not be disappointed. Don't be fooled by the trailer - this one is not a complete laugh fest. Amid all the adult jokes, there’s some thought-provoking stuff too. If a good time at the cinemas is all you want, Petromax may not deliver on those counts.
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