How Old Are You? (film)


How Old Are You? is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by Rosshan Andrrews, written by Bobby Sanjay and produced by Listin Stephen. It stars Manju Warrier, Kunchacko Boban, Kaniha, Lalu Alex and Amritha Anil. The marks the return of Warrier after a 14-year sabbatical in cinema. She plays Nirupama Rajeev, a UD clerk in the Revenue Department, who evolves from a common-woman to a public figure by reinventing herself.
The film was released on 17 May 2014. It received positive reviews from critics and was a major commercial success of the year at the box office. Warrier won a record fifth Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Malayalam for her role. How Old Are You? was remade in Tamil as 36 Vayadhinile starring Jyothika.

Plot

The story is centered on a 36-year-old character named Nirupama Rajeev who works as a UD clerk in the Revenue Department. Her husband is Rajeev Narayanan who works at Akashavaani and aspires of migrating to Ireland, but Nirupama can't accompany him as most Irish companies turn down her job applications. There is nothing interesting about her life; she leads a normal life but craves for a change.
One fine day, she gets an invitation from the President and gets summoned to the IG's office and learns that the President of India would like to have a conversation with her, after a question which her daughter posed to the President who came to the school. Unfortunately, Nirupama faints in-front of the President and the meeting turns out to be a disaster. Post this, she becomes the laughing stock on Facebook. Nirupama is then faced with an issue of being criticized by her family members. Later Nirupama gets in a situation where she has to watch her husband and daughter fly to Ireland.
Susan David, her old classmate, a successful business woman, reminds her of the woman she used to be and inspires her to rediscover her younger self. Nirupama then explains her situation, when she met the president, to the social medias and clears her name. Her inability to rise up to her daughter's expectations and the discomfiture of her husband being mistaken for her younger brother further troubles her. Nirupama had a habit of having a vegetable garden on her roof, without the usage of chemicals or pesticides.
One day Nirupama visits an old woman whom she would meet every day on her bus. Both of them don't even know their names, and when she gets to know that the woman is sick, Nirupama turns up at her house with her own vegetable. The old woman thanks her for the time she spent for her and for reminding that she is not alone in this world. News of her pure vegetables spreads via the neighbor of the sick woman. In between, Nirupama's daughter calls her to Ireland, but she hesitates as she has lots of work left to be done.
Her vegetables are asked for a wedding. For this Nirupama encourages all her neighbors to cultivate vegetables on their rooftops as well, which turns out to be a huge success. Her friend Susan David encourages her into a seminar with important people as audience. Her topic of biofarming influenced all the officials and gives her the job of making it a reality. Once again the President meets her and family.
The meeting turned out to be a successful one. The transformation of her character from a depressed woman to a steady and sprightly lady is almost predictable. 'How Old Are You?' leaves behind a sharp note to its audience. Near the end of the story, Nirupama reminds her husband to expect only what is given to her.

Cast

The film's soundtrack contains 8 songs, all composed by Gopi Sundar and Carnival Band. Lyrics by Hari Narayanan, Rafeeq Ahamed.

Reception

Critical reaction

's reviewer rated the film as "watchable" and wrote, "Just like the 2012 Bollywood film English Vinglish that marked the return of Sridevi, director Rosshan Andrrews’s How Old Are You brings back the terrific Manju Warrier, who stayed away from the movies for 14 years." Veeyen of Nowrunning.com stated that "Roshan Andrews in his film 'How Old Are You' takes us along on a woman's quest to unearth her long buried identity. Armed with a bravura performance by Manju Warrier, this superbly acted and emotionally engaging drama is a keeper of a film, and quite an impressive one at that."
Sharika C. of The Hindu said, "A must-watch, the film is also her way of making a statement – that age does not matter and you are never too old to chase your dreams. Ab ki baar, Manju Warrier!" She cited the film as "one of those rare films that will bring crowds to the theatre just to watch a middle-aged female protagonist perform" and named it as one of Kunchacko Boban's best performances. Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com rated the film 3/5 and said, "How Old Are You is a good watch not just because it is the comeback film of Manju Warrier, but also because it has got a good story to tell." Metromatinee.com called the film "Light hearted yet weighty."

Box office

How Old Are You? was a commercial success. In Kerala alone, the film earned a distributor's share of approximately 5 crore from 77 screens in 25 days run. The film collected 78,897 from the United Kingdom in three weeks.

Awards

; 2014 Kerala State Film Awards
; 62nd Filmfare Awards South
; Asiavision Awards
; Asianet Film Awards
;Kerala Film Critics Association Awards
;Vanitha Film Awards
;4th South Indian International Movie Awards
How Old Are You? was remade into Tamil.
How Old Are You?
Malayalam 		36 Vayadhinile
Tamil
Manju Warrier
Jyothika
Kunchacko Boban
Rahman
Kaniha Abhirami
Amritha Anil Amritha Anil