Sixteen no more: Jyothika's inspirational comeback in '36 Vayathiniley'
'Will she act in movies after marriage?' is still the first question that pops into our heads when an actress announces her wedding. Despite the Kareena Kapoors and Aishwarya Rais and Amala Pauls of Indian cinema who haven't let shaadi come in the way of their stardom, we still believe that marriage is the full-stop to a woman's career, especially when she's in a visual and highly public medium like cinema.
I remember watching a news clipping of the heartbreakingly young Nazriya right after her engagement to Fahadh had been announced to the press. One of the first questions she was asked was if she was quitting films. A visibly taken aback Nazriya mumbled something about how she didn't think Fahadh would have a problem if she continued to act. Nobody, of course, posed a similar question to Fahadh.
Yes, it's a terribly unequal world. And that's why it's so satisfying to see two women who quit films at a time when they were ruling the industry make a come-back with a script that asks the question: Who decides the expiry date of a woman's dreams? The Malayalam original How Old Are You? and its Tamil remake 36 Vayathiniley are both worthy additions to the slowly but surely growing canon of women-centric Indian films.
Personally, I thought How Old Are You? was a much better film than 36 Vayathiniley. Though the Tamil film is an almost frame by frame remake of the original, parts of it are disjointed and a tad too simplistic. And while the husband in How Old Are You? is oblivious to his insensitivity in a way that many men in real life are, the dude in 36 Vayathiniley is positively evil and abusive. Makes it hard for the viewer to stomach the spirited Vasanthi's reconciliation with him in the end. I'd also rate Manju's performance higher than Jo's though the latter has given everything she's got to the film.
That said, it's heartening to see that 36 Vayathiniley has gone on to become a huge hit. Remember, we're still at a time when movie critics and audiences alike are criticizing the 30 plus Anushka Shetty for looking too 'mature' in Lingaa. In which she stars opposite a 60 plus Rajinikanth. We're still at a time when normally sensible actors like Kalki Koechlin are entreating women to buy a bottle of Olay so they can go back to the skin they were born with. And here comes a film where the number 36 denotes the heroine's age and not her bust size and the audience has lapped it up nevertheless!
There are no computer-enhanced stunt sequences, no sexist comedy tracks with nauseating bromance, spicy item numbers that second standard kids will sing with full josh on reality TV. Oh wait, there is a shot of the heroine running a race. Aha. If you've watched Tamil films for long enough, you know what that shot is going to be all about. You know where the camera will be focused and you know how many views it's going to get on Youtube subsequently. But wait, people in the theatre are actually clapping? People are feeling inspired! There's a heroine running onscreen and people are rooting for her because she's kicking ass at that moment. Whoa. Well done, Jo. You make me believe that acche din is here for Tamil films at last.
