How Old Are You?
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRosshan Andrrews
Written byBobby Sanjay
Produced byListin Stephen
StarringKunchacko Boban
Manju Warrier
CinematographyR. Diwakaran
Edited byMahesh Narayanan
Music byGopi Sunder
Production
company
Magic Frames
Distributed byCentral Pictures & Tricolor Entertainment
Release date
  • 17 May 2014 (2014-05-17) (Kerala)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

How Old Are You? is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Rosshan Andrrews, written by Bobby Sanjay and produced by Listin Stephen. It stars Kunchacko Boban, Manju Warrier, Kaniha, Lalu Alex and Amritha Anil.[1][2] This film marks the return of Manju Warrier after a 15-year sabbatical break from the industry.[3][4] 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.[5] The movie was remade in Tamil as 36 Vayadhinile with Jyothika.[6]

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 the 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 businesswoman, 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 media 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 her that she is not alone in this world. News of her pure vegetables spreads as the sick woman shares them with her employer.

The same employer turns out to be a well-off businessman and is impressed by the quality of the vegetables. He asks Nirupama if she could provide vegetables for his daughter's wedding in four months. For this Nirupama encourages all her neighbors to cultivate vegetables on their rooftops as well, which turns out to be a huge success. In between, Nirupama's daughter calls her to Ireland, but she hesitates as she has much work remaining, including finishing the commitment to supply vegetables for the wedding. Her husband is not happy with this hesitation and implies strongly that she needs to drop everything to come and help her daughter in Ireland. He says that she is neglecting her duties and her daughter. Nirupama reminds her husband to expect only what is given to her.

Her friend Susan David encourages her to present at a seminar with important people as an audience, including a State Minister and Collector. Her topic of biofarming by prioritizing organic vegetable gardens in the design of all housing projects influenced all the officials who appoint her as the lead visionary in making this a reality in Kerala. Once again the President meets her and her family; this time to discuss the vision of expanding Nirupama's biofarming idea nationwide.

The meeting turned out to be a successful one. Nirupama is finally able to answer the question that her daughter asked the president. "Who decides the expiry date of a woman's dreams?" The transformation of her character from a depressed woman to a steady and sprightly lady is complete and the movie ends.

Cast

Soundtrack

How Old Are You
Soundtrack album by
Gopi Sundar
Released
  • 10 May 2014 (2014-05-10)
Recorded2013
StudioSound Factory
GenreFilm soundtrack
Length7:20
LanguageMalayalam
LabelMuzik 247
ProducerGopi Sundar
Gopi Sundar chronology
Mr. Fraud
(2014)		 How Old Are You
(2014)		 Bangalore Days
(2014)

The film's soundtrack contains 3 songs, all composed by Gopi Sundar and Carnival Band. Lyrics by Hari Narayanan, Rafeeq Ahamed.

#TitleSinger(s)
1 "Vijanathayil" Shreya Ghoshal
2 "Vaa Vayassu Cholli" Manjari
3 "Happy Birthday" Carnival Band

Reception

Critical reaction

Sify'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."[7] 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."[8][9]

Sharika C. of The Hindu said, "A must-watch, the film is also her [Manju Warrier's] 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.[9] 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."[10] Metromatinee.com called the film "Light hearted yet weighty."[11]

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.[12] The film collected US$78,897 from the United Kingdom in three weeks.[13]

Awards

2014 Kerala State Film Awards[14]
62nd Filmfare Awards South[15][16]

Remakes

How Old Are You? was remade into Tamil as 36 Vayadhinile in 2015, with Jyothika, marking her comeback to films after an eight-year hiatus,[6] while Rahman, Abhirami, Nassar, Delhi Ganesh and Siddhartha Basu appear in other prominent roles.The film released on 15 May 2015 and met with positive reviews by praising Jyothika's performances, for which she was awarded Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress at 63rd Britannia South Filmfare Awards.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "How Old Are You? Malayalam Movie - Preview, Trailers, Gallery, Review, Events, Synopsis". Nowrunning.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Manju to ask 'How Old are you' ? - Malayalam Movie News". IndiaGlitz.com. 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Rajaneesh Vilakudy (20 May 2014). "How Old Are You is not Manju Warriers real life". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Roshith, Sivalakshmi. "How Old Are You: Unveiling the Male-Female Bond". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "2014: When little gems outclassed big guns in southern cinema". Hindustan Times. 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Jyothika to return in how old are you tamil remake". PrimeGlitz Media. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Movie Review : 'How Old Are You'" Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "How Old Are You Review - Malayalam Movie Review by Veeyen". Nowrunning.com. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  9. 1 2 C, Sharika (18 May 2014). "Return of the heroine". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Review: How Old Are You is impressive - Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "How Old Are You Movie Review". Metromatinee.com. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Kerala Box-Office â€" April 10 to June 15 â€" Summer Hits". Sify. 17 June 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  13. ↑ "United Kingdom and Ireland and Malta Yearly Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 30 December 2014.
  14. ↑ ""State Awards: Nazriya, Nivin, Sudev bag top honours"". Malayala Manorama. 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015.
  15. ↑ ""Winners of 62nd Britannia Filmfare Awards South"". Filmfare. 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Nominations for the 62nd Britannia Filmfare Awards (South)". Filmfare. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  17. ↑ "Winners of the 63rd Britannia Filmfare Awards (South)". filmfare.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Actor Rahman joins Tamil remake of 'How Old Are You'". The Indian Express. Chennai. Indo Asian News Service. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "Jyothika's 'How Old Are You' remake titled '36 Vayadhinile'". The Indian Express. Chennai. Indo Asian News Service. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
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