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Petromax
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rohin Venkatesan
Written by	G. R. Surendarnath
Based on	Anando Brahma by Mahi V Raghav
Produced by	A. Kumar
Starring	Tamannaah Bhatia
Cinematography	Dani Raymond
Edited by	Leo John Paul
Music by	Ghibran
Production company	Eagle's Eye Production
Release date	11 October 2019 (2019-10-11)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Petromax is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film directed by Rohin Venkatesan and produced by Passion Studios. The film starring Tamannaah Bhatia, Prem, Yogi Babu, Ramdoss, Kaali Venkat, Sathyan and TSK. This film is a remake of the Telugu film Anando Brahma and it opened to mixed reviews.

Plot

Saravanan, an NRI living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, arrives in India after hearing the news of the Wayanad floods. He discovers his parents in the hospital mortuary and cries. Meera, Vijay Karuppaati, Nivetha, and Santhanam are ghosts staying in their ancestral home. They are waiting eagerly for Vijay Karuppaati's wife to come home. They don't know how or when they died. A family visits their house for tenancy, but they scare the family away. The broker, Ganapathy, who deals with the house, is also scared as he spots Meera's ghost and informs the house owner, Saravanan, and his cop friend, Vetri, of their presence. Vetri is apprehensive, while Saravanan dismisses it as a concoction. Vetri conspires with Guru to force Saravanan to sell his house cheaply by fabricating and peddling the ghost story. They plan to demolish the house and build a commercial complex.

Senthil overhears Saravanan's conversation and agrees to send his three friends to stay one night at the house, and if they survive, Saravanan will pay Senthil a percentage of the sale price as a commission. But his three friends encountered the ghosts that night. Kumar is locked in the bathroom, his friend (Muthuswamy) is knocked unconscious, and another is scared away. Saravanan believes ghosts exist in the house and is about to sell it at Guru's demanded price. But Saravanan, after Senthil urges him, gives him one last chance to prove it's not haunted. Senthil and his friend Tulasi meet Kaali and Raju coincidentally at the hospital, and they all desperately need money. Senthil has to care for his amnesiac mother and needs cash for cardiac surgery to treat the hole in his heart. Paaripooranam, who poses himself as an agent of famous cinema producers in Kollywood, dupes Kaali, who is so infatuated with movies that he starts enacting the roles he watches. Thangam, a drunkard who drinks after the clock ticks 9 p.m., bets on a cricket match in an inebriated state and loses the money he saved for his son's surgery. Nandha is deaf and night-blind and often uses his flute when frightened. In an ATM robbery case, he gets caught napping while guarding the ATM when robbers loot it. The security agency that hired him tells him to repay the money lost to prevent getting banned from the agency.

As they start staying in the house, all the ghosts decide to scare them away. However, all four friends remain calm due to their peculiar habits, like Kaali, who starts acting out scenes like Vikram from Anniyan. Instead, they begin intimidating the spirits. After the first day, Saravanan inquires Senthil about the presence of ghosts and decides to give him two more days to sell the house. Vetri does not like Senthil and his group staying inside the house and sends fake spirits to scare them away. However, the real ghosts frighten the counterfeit ghosts. On the second night, Senthil and his group remain calm and scare the ghosts. However, Senthil's mother arrives at the house looking for him after the ghosts frighten the group on the third night. She is none other than Vijay Karupaati's wife.

Past: A flashback reveals that Saravanan is their son. Saravanan gets an offer for a job in Malaysia and leaves. The couple adopted Meera, Santhanam and Nivetha since they felt alone. Saravanan returns to India and incurs a loss. So Saravanan wishes to sell the house to compensate for his business debts. Vijay Karupaati refuses to sell the house after he insults Meera and Nivetha, calling them orphans. Saravanan gets infuriated and kills the entire family by poisoning their food and burning them, excluding his mother. Meera is alive, so Saravanan smashes her face with a stone. In horror, she witnessed Saravanan murdering them.

Present: Vetri discovers that Saravanan killed his family, but Guru kills him. The ghosts realise the reasons for their deaths and enact their revenge by killing Saravanan, Guru, and Guru's goons. When Senthil and his friends leave the house, they find a bag filled with cash in Saravanan's car. They converted the house into a retirement home. They live happily with Kamala, who recovered from amnesia, and other old pensioners, abandoned by their children.

Cast

• Tamannaah Bhatia as Meera
• Prem as Saravanan
• Yogi Babu as Pandi, a fake ghost
• Ramdoss as Senthil
• Kaali Venkat as Thangam
• Sathyan as Nandha
• TSK as King Kaali
• K. S. G. Venkatesh as Vijay Karupaati
• Sreeja Ravi as Kamala
• Mime Gopi as Guru
• Livingston as Paripooranam
• Mahanadi Shankar as Police inspector
• Baby Monika as Nivetha
• Pei Krishnan as Santhanam
• Kavin Jay Babu as Vetri, Saravanan's friend
• Myna Nandhini as Shailaja
• Pudhupettai Suresh as Muthusamy
• Aathma Patrick as Kumar
• Abdool Lee as Manohar
• TSR as a doctor
• Sneba as Broker Ganapathy
• Yukta as Young Meera
• Vijaya Paati as Shailaja's grandmother
• Master Jashik as Thangam's son
• Sivaranjini as Vasanthi, Thangam's wife
• Pradeep as Buyer
• Sugi as Buyer's wife
• Hareesh as Priest
• Devi as Senthil's sister
• Sree Sathya as Saravanan's wife
• Dharunya Shakti Suresh as Shailaja's sister
• Sharath Ravi as “Tasmac” Douglas

Cameo appearance

• Vaibhav as himself

Production

The film was shot in 42 working days, and the title was revealed on 18 July 2019. It is a reference to the dialogue "Petromax lightey daan venumaa?" (Do you want only the petromax light?) from the 1984 film Vaidehi Kathirunthal. Leo John Paul and Ghibran, who earlier collaborated with the director's Adhe Kangal film was retained as film editor and music director respectively. Dani Raymond, the co-cinematographer of the film Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada, was selected as the cinematographer, and Vinoth Rajkumar of 96 fame was selected as the art director.

Marketing

The first look poster of the film was unveiled on 19 July 2019. The second look poster was unveiled by Aishwarya Rajesh on 8 August 2019. The trailer is scheduled to release on 30 September 2019, by director Atlee.

Music

The music is composed by Ghibran, who earlier composed for the film's director earlier film Adhe Kangal. The music rights are secured by Think Music India. A single from the film, "Malarudhu Pudhu Naale", which was written by S. N. Anuradha and sung by Roshini, was released on 27 September 2019.

Release

Petromax was released on 11 October 2019. Satellite rights of the film was bagged by Star Vijay. It was released on Amazon Prime on 12 November 2019.

Reception

Behindwoods rated 2.5/5, stating that "The entertaining humour in the second half makes 'Petromax' enjoyable". Firstpost, rated 2.5/5. stating that "Petromax is more of a time pass comedy caper than a horror film."

References

1. "Petromax Movie Review: Petromax loses the steam quite early". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
2. ^ "Rohin's search for a light title leads to Petromax". The Times of India. 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
3. "Tamannaah's next is horror film titled 'Petromax'". The News Minute. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
4. "Tamannaah's next with Athe Kangal-fame Rohin Venkatesan titled Petromax; Title look revealed". Cinema Express. 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
5. "Here is the first look poster of Petromax". The Times of India. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
6. "Aishwarya Rajesh unveils the second look of Tamannaah Bhatia's film Petromax; Read details". Pinkvilla. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
7. "Three ghosts to clash on October 11". Sify. 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
8. "PETROMAX MOVIE REVIEW". Behindwoods. 11 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
9. "Petromax movie review: Tamannaah is reduced to cliches and sidelines in this average horror comedy". Firstpost. 12 October 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.

External links

• Petromax at IMDb

• 2019 films
• 2010s Tamil-language films
• 2010s Indian films
• Tamil remakes of Telugu films
• Indian comedy horror films
• Films scored by Ghibran Vaibodha
• Indian ghost films
• Tamil-language Indian films