Asin South Indian Actress

Asin alias Thottumkal, the talented actress model, from Kerala. Before entering into films, she was a part - time model and businesswoman. Asin is one of top actress in Tamil and Telugu.

Asin was born into a Syrian Catholic family in Kochi, Kerala. Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from Thodupuzha, managed several businesses before he decided to manage his daughter's acting career instead where he accompanies her to all her foreign shoots. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal, remains a surgeon who moved settlements from Cochin to Chennai to Mumbai to live with her daughter. Asin has quoted that her name "means pure and without blemish". She claims that "the 'A' in her name is from Sanskrit meaning "without", and 'Sin' from English".

Name: Asin Thottumkal

Screen Name: Asin

Nick Name: Malabar ahzagi, Tamil ammayee

Meaning of Name: Pure

Date of Birth: October 26, 1985

Place of Birth: Cochin, Kerala, India

Zodiac Sign:Scorpio

Height: 5'4"

Mother Tongue: Malayalam

Nationality: Indian

Languages Known: Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, French

Father: Joseph Thottumkal (Businessman)

Mother: Dr. Seline Thottumkal (Doctor)

School Days: St. Teresa's Hr. Sec. School in Cochin

College Days: B.A. English Litterature, at St. Teresa's College, Cochin

Favourite Colours: Red & Black

Favourite Dress: Jeans & Shirt

Favourite Food: Small fresh water fish or prawns fried with kerala Rice

Favourite Sport: Cricket

Favourite Spot: All places in Kerala

Favourite Singers: Balamurali Krishina, P. Susheela, Janet Jackson

Role Model: Parents

What she like most: Simplicity

What she hate most: Dishonesty

Her motto: Don't let success to your head and failure to your heart

Her debute was at the age of 16 in a supporting role in Sathyan Anthikkad's Malayalam film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001. After taking a year out to pursue her education, Asin returned with her breakthrough film as an actress, Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi opposite Ravi Teja, portraying a Tamil girl in her first Telugu language film, which subsequently fetched her the Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In the same year she won the Santosham Best Actress Award for her performance alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna in her second Telugu film, Shivamani. Her following two Telugu films, Lakshmi Narasimha and Gharshana, both portrayed Asin as the love interest for police officers.

Asin's first Tamil language film was M. Kumaran son of Mahalakshmi, in which she co-starred with Jayam Ravi. Asin reprised her role from her film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi for the remake, which saw her portraying a Malayali girl instead of the Tamil girl in the original. The movie subsequently went on to become one of the biggest hits in Tamil cinema during 2004, introducing Asin to Tamil film industry.

After the release of Ullam Ketkumae, Asin was cited as a leading heroine after the Tamil industry films Ghajini, Majaa, Sivakasi and Varalaru respectively.[8] The film which provided the breakthrough for Asin was Ghajini. The film, co-starring Surya and Nayantara and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, earned her the Tamil Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

In 2008 Asin appeared in her first dual role in K. S. Ravikumar's Dasavathaaram opposite Kamal Haasan, who portrayed ten roles. The film, which was under production since September 2006, became Asin's largest film till date. Despite being overshadowed by Haasan's ten roles, Asin's portrayal's in the film were praised as her "best-to-date" with one of her roles being that of a Vaishnavite in the 12th century; whilst the other character was a Brahmin girl from Chidambaram. Dasavathaaram subsequently went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters in South Indian film history. Since establishing herself as the leading actress in South India, Asin opted to move into Bollywood, to get nationwide fame. Her first film, Ghajini opposite Aamir Khan was the remake of her breakthrough film of the same name. Upon release, the film garnered positive reactions from critics and masses alike, with Asin being singled out for her "fabulous" portray. Noted critic, Taran Adarsh describes her Hindi debut as "fabulous" and that "to share the screen space with an actor of the stature of Aamir Khan and yet remain in your memory even after the show has ended is no cakewalk. She looks fresh and photogenic and acts her part brilliantly", giving Asin's performance a positive outlook.