Petromax is the remake of the hit Telugu film Anando Brahma which was released in 2017. The film was marketed as Tamannahs film, probably one would have expected a women centric subject. But she hardly has a role to play and it's just a marketing gimmick.
The story of Petromax (still wondering why this title was used! Honestly a good 'recall value title' has gone waste) is same as wot you would expect - A haunted house which no one wants to buy. Four guys (Kaali Venkat, Munishkanth, TSK and Sathyam) attempt to stay in the house for few days to prove that it's not haunted and execute a sale.
The film starts interestingly but looses steam immediately and just wanders around the 4 characters without any conflicts. The heart of the film is the last 45 minutes which has some genuine funny moments and a decent flashback too. But the damage is already done.
TSK is a good find and entertains us by imitating all leading actors. Munishkant is almost the hero of the film and tries his best to keep the proceeding going. Tamannah and the other ghosts don't have anything much to do rather than shout at everyone. It becomes so loud and irritating sometimes. We also have Yogi Babu in a small but enjoyable role.
Cinematography is good and BGM by Ghibran was loud. Poor graphics again (referring to the film Aruvam which released today), infact in one scene we see Munishkant reacting to a horror graphic even before it comes on screen.
Petromax may have worked couple of years back. Even then marketing this 'done to death' subject as a horror film with Tamannah in the lead was a mistake.
Rating - 2.5/5 (just for the last one hour)
