Petromax

Plot: Four orphans set out to find a house. Since they are three men and a woman, they don't find any willing owners to rent them their homes. A woman real estate agent becomes their saviour.

Review: Filmmaker Vijaya Prasad has created a niche for himself in the film industry, with films that mix content that is usually classified as adult humour with philosophy. His latest outing, Petromax, is no different. It tries to question what the true meaning of an orphan is - is it what the dictionary defines it or are most people living as orphans with people in their lives. This time around, the filmmaker also experiments with his filmmaking style, and breaks the fourth wall. He has his characters directly interacting with the audiences. This adds to the charm of the story.

This film is a simple story of four orphans - three men and a woman - in search of a house, and how a woman real estate agent finds them one. But this has been interestingly woven with different personalities of each character, gags, heartwarming situations and dialogues that actually make one think about conventional things. Of course, there is more than a generous dose of the trademark Vijaya Prasad humour for his fans.

The film wins with its dialogues, characterisations and performances - all of them go hand in glove. Sathish Ninasam, Hariprriya, Karunya Ram, Arun and Nagabhushana are all equally good in their roles. Lending ample support to them is the rest of the ensemble - Sudha Belawadi, Padmaja Rao, Vijayalakshmi Singh, Achyuth Kumar and Suman Ranganath, who makes a special appearance. Additionally, the editing deserves a special mention for mixing direct narration and scenes seamlessly. The background score is quirky and adds to the humour.

Petromax also interestingly is sets up in such a way that the makers directly promise a sequel, if the film is accepted well. The only place where it might falter is that the last half hour of the film ends up being a tad too emotional, which might leave those expecting more double entendre-laced scenes opting to even walk out of the theatre, if they are not open for the philosophical and morals-laced episode that precedes the climax. But 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.