# 36 Vayadhinile

36 Vayadhinile (transl. At the age of 36) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Rosshan Andrrews. It is a remake of his Malayalam film How Old Are You (2014), and produced by Suriya under his production studio 2D Entertainment, marking his debut as a producer. The film stars Jyothika marking her comeback to films after an eight-year hiatus, while Rahman, Nassar, Ilavarasu, Siddhartha Basu and Abhirami appear in other prominent roles. The soundtrack was composed by Santhosh Narayanan, with cinematography and editing handled by R. Diwakaran and Mahesh Narayanan respectively.
36 Vayadhinile was released on 15 May 2015. The film received positive reviews from critics, mainly for Jyothika's performance and became a commercial success. She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Tamil and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for the year 2015. The film won seven awards at the 2015 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards including Best Actress.

## Plot

36-year-old Vasanthi is a UD clerk in the Revenue Department; her husband Tamizhselvan works at All India Radio. Tamizhselvan aspires to emigrate to Ireland, but Vasanthi cannot accompany him as most Irish companies refuse her job applications because of her age. She leads a mundane life, but she craves a change.
One day, Vasanthi is summoned by the IG, Rajan to his office and she learns that the President of India would like to have a conversation with her. The meeting ends in disaster after she faints in front of the President and becomes the subject of Facebook memes. Before long, she watches helplessly as her husband and daughter Mithila fly away to Ireland.
Vasanthi's old classmate Susan David, now a successful CMO, reminds her of the bold, strong-willed woman she used to be and inspires her to rediscover her younger self, a woman with big dreams and aspirations. Vasanthi, who is encouraged to have bigger goals in her life, gets an idea through a wedding catering order. She learns about the unhealthy market vegetables that are sprayed with toxic pesticides, and refines her home greenhouse while appealing to other women in her neighbourhood to start their own greenhouses for the welfare of their families.
Susan gets Vasanthi a slot in the region's annual architectural conference, which is graced by the bigwigs of the country, and her talk on organic greenhouse farming concepts is well received by the audience. Despite resistance and a lack of support from her husband, Vasanthi persists with her new project, which turns out to be a big success as she was able to fulfill the demand of the wedding catering order and materialise her idea. She receives regional and national acclaim for her endeavours. Following this success, Vasanthi once again gets an invitation from the President of India. This time, Vasanthi is unwavering and answers the questions. She finally gets the respect and appreciation of her husband and daughter.

## Cast

* Jyothika as Vasanthi Tamizhselvan
* Rahman as Tamizhselvan
* Nassar as Commissioner Rajan
* Ilavarasu as Vegetable Merchant
* Siddhartha Basu as the President of India
* Abhirami as Susan David
* Amritha Anil as Mithila Tamizhselvan
* Sethu Lakshmi as Thulasi
* Delhi Ganesh as Vasanthi's father-in-law
* M. S. Bhaskar as Stephen
* Bose Venkat as Police Officer
* Prem as Jayachandran
* Kalaranjini as Vasanthi's mother-in-law
* Devadarshini as Girija Sreenivasan
* Sujatha Sivakumar as Raani
* Mohan Raman as Nalabagam Chellur Pichai
* Rajasekar as retired teacher and neighbour
* Vazhakku En Muthuraman as Vasanthi's superior
* Mippu Mani
* Scissor Manohar as Auto driver
* Crane Manohar
* Bayilvan Ranganathan as Bayilvan Ranganathan
* Karnaa Radha

## Production

In August 2014, it was announced that actress Jyothika would make a comeback to acting after a seven-year sabbatical by featuring in the Tamil remake of Rosshan Andrrews's Malayalam film How Old Are You (2014). Jyothika's husband Suriya agreed to produce the venture under his production banner 2D Entertainment, while director and writer Rosshan Andrrews and Bobby Sanjay were retained from the original version. Suriya revealed that Jyothika and he were impressed by the Malayalam version and Jyothika took two days to agree to make a return as an actress. Actor Rahman was added to the cast in October 2014, to play the role originally played by Kunchacko Boban. Music director Santhosh Narayanan was signed on to compose the film's score and soundtrack.
The shoot of the film began in November 2014 and shoots were planned to take place in Chennai, Delhi and Rajasthan. The final scene of the film was first shot, with scenes of Jyothika's character meeting the President, played by Siddharth Basu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan filmed in New Delhi. During the first schedule, actress Abhirami also signed on to portray a pivotal role, marking a comeback to Tamil films after an eleven-year absence.

## Music

The soundtrack and background score for 36 Vayadhinile was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The soundtrack album features eleven tracks, which includes three songs, five instrumentals from the original score and three karaoke numbers. The lyrics for the three songs were written by Vivek. The film's audio was launched on 6 April 2015, at The Leela Palace Hotel in Chennai.

## Release

The film's first look poster was released on 8 March 2015, coinciding with International Women's Day. The trailer of the film was released at the audio launch, which held on 6 April 2015. The film was released on 15 May 2015. It was dubbed in Telugu as 36 Vayasulo and released in 2020 on Aha.

## Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from critics. Sify wrote "Overall, 36 Vayadhinile is a better film than the[sic] most of the so called commercial movies and it is must watch for the family audiences who seek quality entertainment. There are some positive messages that the film conveys, which also need to be appreciated". The Times of India rated 3+1⁄2 of out 5 stars and wrote "36 Vayadhinile might be a familiar tale of women empowerment, but the issues that it deals with [..] are very valid". Rediff.com gave the film 3 stars and wrote "A simple yet effective script, well executed by the director, coupled with some enjoyable music, and the wonderful performance of Jyothika definitely make 36 Vayadhinile worth a watch". However, Baradwaj Rangan gave a negative review in The Hindu, stating, "36 Vayadhinile is not cinema. It's, at best, a glorified television soap, broadly written and staged and performed, and blaring its messages through a megaphone".

## Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Behindwoods Gold Medal Awards | 26 July 2016 | People's Choice for Best Actor – Female | Jyothika | Won | |
| Behindwoods Gold Medal Awards | 26 July 2016 | Best Debut Film Producer | Suriya | Won | |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Actress (Critics) – Tamil | Jyothika | Won | [22] [23] [24] |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Actress – Tamil | Jyothika | Nominated | [22] [23] [24] |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Film – Tamil | 36 Vayadhinile – 2D Entertainment | Nominated | [22] [23] [24] |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Director – Tamil | Rosshan Andrrews | Nominated | [22] [23] [24] |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Supporting Actress – Tamil | Devadarshini | Nominated | [22] [23] [24] |
| Filmfare Awards South | 18 June 2016 | Best Lyricist – Tamil | Vivek – ("Rasathi") | Nominated | [22] [23] [24] |
| IIFA Utsavam | 24–25 January 2016 | Best Actress – Tamil | Jyothika | Nominated | [25] [26] |
| IIFA Utsavam | 24–25 January 2016 | Best Lyricist – Tamil | Vivek – ("Rasathi") | Nominated | [25] [26] |
| IIFA Utsavam | 24–25 January 2016 | Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil | Lalitha Vijayakumar – ("Rasathi") | Nominated | [25] [26] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Album of the Year – Tamil | 36 Vayadhinile | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Song of the Year – Tamil | "Rasathi" | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Music Composer of the Year – Tamil | Santhosh Narayanan – ("Pogiren") | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Lyricist of the Year – Tamil | Vivek – ("Pogiren") | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Female Vocalist of the Year – Tamil | Lalitha Vijayakumar – ("Rasathi") | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Female Vocalist of the Year – Tamil | Kalpana Raghavendar – ("Pogiren") | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Upcoming Lyricist of the Year – Tamil | Vivek – ("Pogiren") | Won | [27] [28] |
| Mirchi Music Awards South | 8 April 2015 | Upcoming Female Vocalist of the Year – Tamil | Lalitha Vijayakumar – ("Rasathi") | Nominated | [27] [28] |
| Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards | 28 April–1 May 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | Lalitha Vijayakumar – ("Rasathi") | Won | |
| South Indian International Movie Awards | 30 June–1 July 2016 | Best Actress – Tamil | Jyothika | Nominated | [30] [31] [32] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film Portraying Woman in Good Light | 36 Vayadhinile – 2D Entertainment | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Actress | Jyothika | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Comedian | Devadarshini | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Lyricist | Vivek – ("Rasathi") | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Make-up Artist | Sabari Girishan | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Male Dubbing Artist | Gautham Kumar | Won | [33] [34] |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 6 March 2024 | Best Female Playback Singer | Kalpana Raghavendar – ("Pogiren") | Won | [33] [34] |