Life begins at 36 for Nirupama Rajiv, the protagonist of How Old Are You , the Rosshan Andrrews movie that marks the comeback of Manju Warrier. The movie celebrates the indomitable spirit of a woman with a never-say-die attitude. It is having a dream run in the box office and has struck a chord with viewers. Among the umpteen women who are living their dream a la Nirupama, after breaking the shackles of domesticity, are many from tinsel town, the IT field, the business world, and so on, who prove that age is just a number.
“People, especially women, should follow their dreams sooner rather than later. After becoming a wife and a mother you change and your priorities change but that doesn’t mean you have to put a stop to your dreams. Make a choice. Say gung ho and meet the challenge head on,” says filmmaker and mother Anjali Menon, who is in her late 30s. One of Mollywood’s only female filmmakers, the award-winning director of Manjadikkuru and writer of Ustad Hotel is coming out with her second movie, Bangalore Days , next week.
“Of course, it’s an uphill struggle – all the time! I don’t think I could ever make my films alone. It takes a tremendous amount of will power to keep going, to juggle home life and work and do that balancing act. A fertile atmosphere is also important to flourish. But, at the end of the day, it is immensely rewarding,” she adds.
While marriage and kids often put an end to an actress’ career, the opposite happened in the case of Asha Sharreth. It was after a gap of 14 years that Asha, a trained dancer, faced the camera yet again. She shot to fame essaying the role of Prof. Jayanthi in the serial Kumkumapoovu and went on to act in movies such as Zachariyayude Garbhinikal and Drishyam . “Post marriage, I settled in Dubai. A life based around my family was all that I wanted. Kumkumapoovu came out of the blue and the rest is history. Whatever I’ve achieved is because of the unconditional support of my husband, in-laws, daughters and my parents,” she adds.
Reena Basheer has been married for 22 years now and her tryst with stardom happened hardly seven years ago. Till then, she was a homemaker, who loved cooking, art and craft and happy being a doting mother. Now she is an actor, television host, and an entrepreneur as well. “It’s been like a fairytale. Hailing from an orthodox Muslim family, I never even dared to dream what I am doing now. I loved dancing and my ultimate ambition was to perform in front of a large audience. But I was sure that it would never happen,” she says. It was the reality show Vanita Ratnam on Amrita TV that changed her life for ever. “The show had called in entries from multi-talented married women and my son felt that I should apply, after seeing me dabbling with painting, embroidery, cooking… ,” she says.
Actor Srinda Ashab too rose to fame post-motherhood. “You should have that fire inside to pursue your aspirations. My parents had always given me enough space and freedom. There was that dream to do something creative. And marriage and motherhood never came in the way. It was a gradual process, first came modelling, then a short stint behind the camera and finally acting. But then, nothing at the cost of my family and my six-year-old son, Arhaan,” says Srinda, who has acted in movies such as Annayum Rasoolum and 1983 .
After working in the IT industry for nigh on 20 years, technocrat Rina Vivekanandan, chief executive officer and managing director of start-up Sinura Health Information Process Solutions, started her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 49. “I had always followed a safe and comfortable, paid career path due to family commitments. Inspite of earning well and heading an organisation, I felt tied down to a desk and wanted to build an organisation of my own. I realised that I appear to be successful but am actually not. My children had left home for graduate studies, which left me with disposable time to work out a plan to change the course of my life and start my own company,” says Rina.
All the women are quick to stress that age has never been a barrier. “It is not a barrier for doing or achieving anything. People, especially women, are compartmentalised based on age. Many an eyebrow was raised when I started my own venture so late. Mobilising funds was also a challenge. I had to work very hard to break the pre-conceived notions of the age barrier and have succeeded to a great extent,” says Rina. Anajli adds: “A lot of people are ageist, which is a pity, because it’s terribly wrong. Nobody, not women or men, should be judged because of their age. You can be in your 40s, 50, 60s… but still follow your dreams. I have assistant directors in their 20s who teach me a lot of new things. You have to be open to change, though.”
