Manju Warrier makes a befitting comeback with 'How Old Are You?'

It couldn’t have been a more apt comeback. A classic case where the lines between reel and real blur. Malayalam actress Manju Warrier has made an imposing comeback, after a 14-year hiatus from the big screen, with a character who shows an uncanny resemblance to her off-screen personality.

Slipping into the skin of a fairly domesticated Nirupama Rajeev, who was once a spirited go-getter, as she fights to break free from the “married woman” stereotype, was probably effortless for Manju considering she’s fighting a similar battle. Away from the arch lights, the actress is faced with a divorce petition from her estranged actor-husband Dileep for “harassing him” and attempting to “revive an acting career”, among other allegations.

Like Nirupama, who accepted her domestic duties wholeheartedly, Manju too abandoned her acting career after her marriage, despite being on top of her game. She was probably the only actress of that time, who had roles written specifically for her, an exercise often reserved exclusively for the male superstars.

With unsupportive husbands and troubled teenage daughters to wreck their peace of mind, Manju and Nirupama embark together on a path of self-discovery and independence.

“Who puts the expiry date on a woman’s dream?” is the pertinent question that filmmaker Rosshan Andrrew attempts to answer in ‘How Old Are You?’

And, aptly so. It’s always been a topic of contention in the Malayali society, but none that has found a befitting mention on the celluloid.

While the women are united in their pursuit of a life devoid of traditional clichés, they appear disconnected in temperament and lifestyles. Manju, however, bridges the difference by injecting an incredible genuineness and charm into Nirupama.

Manju’s top-notch as the fairly obscure government clerk, who amuses everyone with her delicate health and her self-deflating innocence. Her life passes by uneventfully, only to be stalled occasionally by her unappreciative husband and her self-centered girl.

Manju owns the spotlight, tackling every moment and emotion with tact and finesse, without turning Nirupama’s struggles into something that evokes merely self-pity.

You sense a genuine pain when she’s rejected by her family for being too naïve and simple, and for never aspiring to be more confident. Her sacrifices for her family are looked upon as her weakness. It’s how she deftly transforms it to her strength over the 141-minutes of screen time that makes the journey incredibly moving.

Nirupama’s inner strength emerges, albeit feebly, when she tries to reject her pushy husband Rajeev’s, played effectively by Kunjachacko Bobban, invitation to join him and his daughter in Ireland only because hiring a cook isn’t an affordable choice.

Although the staple saree and her casual walk is reminiscent of Sri Devi in ‘English Vinglish’, Manju’s Nirupama is unlike her Bollywood contemporary and regains her lost glory with an old college friend by her side.

For an actress who walked away with the national award for portraying the heroic Bhadra, as she ruthlessly pursues her father’s murderers in the 1999 revenge-drama ‘Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu’, Andrew’s ‘How Old Are You?’ appears a tad timid in comparison.

While there’s no doubting that Nirupama will undoubtedly win a special place in our hearts with her goodwill, her trials and tribulations, however, aren’t as challenging as what the actress has tackled in her three years in the industry.

From playing a girl with a volatile temperament and an unstable mind in ‘Thooval Kottaram’, to a troubled lover in ‘Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu’, to a feisty journalist in ‘Pathram’, Manju showed versatility and maturity in her earlier performances, fetching her numerous accolades.

Her Nirupama may not be her finest, but that’s not discounting the fact it’s just an indication of greater things to come. With ‘How Old Are You?’ running to packed houses in the UAE, there’s little doubt she’ll prove us wrong.

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