Asin Thottumkal

 Asin Thottumkal

Asin Thottumkal



She was born 26 October 1985 and she known mononymously as Asin, is an Indian actress and trained Bharathanatyam dancer. She began her acting career in the South Indian film industry, but now appears predominantly in Bollywood films. She is the only Malayali actress, other than Padmini, who has the distinction of having dubbed in her own voice for all her films, irrespective of language.Asin also has the distinction of being the 'numero uno' heroine of Tamil cinema over the span 5 years from 2004 to 2008 with a string of blockbuster hits and was fondly referred to as Queen of Kollywood.Currently Asin is one of the leading actresses in Bollywood and tops the Bollywood Hundred Crore Club among actresses.
Making her acting debut in Sathyan Anthikkad's Malayalam film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001), Asin had her first commercial success with the Telugu film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi in 2003, and won a Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for the film. M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi (2004) was her debut in Tamil and a huge success. She received her Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for her most noted critically acclaimed performance in her third Tamil film, Ghajini (2005). She then played the lead female roles in many successful films, most notable being the dramatic thriller Varalaru (2006), the action thriller Pokkiri (2007), romantic drama Vel (2008) and the blockbuster Dasavathaaram (2008) opposite Kamal Haasan and hence established herself as the leading actress of Tamil cinema and was also honoured by the Tamil Nadu government with the Kalaimamani award for her excellence in the field of art and literature. In 2013, Asin was conferred with Pride of South Indian Cinema award at SIIMA for her contribution to Tamil cinema.



Early life


Asin was born in Cochin (now Kochi) in Kerala to a Syro-Malabar Catholic Nasrani family. Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from Thodupuzha, managed several businesses. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal, who moved settlements from Kochi to Chennai to Mumbai to live with her daughter, is a surgeon. According to custom, Asin was to be named Mary, after her paternal grandmother. Asin's father however named her Asin as the name had a beautiful meaning. Asin has quoted that her name means "pure and without blemish". She states that the 'A' in her name is from Sanskrit meaning "without", and 'sin' from English".
She attended Naval Public School from LKG through X standard. She scored over 90% in her X board exams but chose Humanities in XI standard, shocking her family who were confident she would take up science and get into the civil services. She then attended St. Teresa's School in Kochi for her Plus Two education. After that she attended St. Teresa's College in Kochi, a college affiliated with MG University, where she graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature.



Career


Asin's first assignment was an advertisement for BPL Mobile. She debuted in a Malayalam film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001, at the age of 15. 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 and both were successful ventures.

Asin's first Tamil language film was M. Kumaran S/O 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 super hits in Tamil cinema during 2004, introducing Asin to Tamil film industry. After a brief return to Telugu films, to do Chakram, she appeared in Ullam Ketkumae.The film, initially launched in 2002 and was supposed to be her debut as a lead heroine, is a college love story, directed by Jeeva, which was long-delayed but eventually became a successful venture at the box-office, creating wider opportunities for her and the rest of the cast.

 Asin Thottumkal

The following year, her long-delayed venture, Varalaru opposite Ajith Kumar also succeeded at the box office, and The Hindu said she "looks lustrous and sails through her role smoothly".Asin appeared in Pawan Kalyan's Annavaram, another successful venture which was a remake of Thirupaachi. In January 2007, Asin appeared opposite Ajith Kumar and Vijay in two different films, Aalwar and Pokkiri, with the latter becoming a success, whilst Aalwar became a failure. Whilst Asin's role in Aalwar was criticised, her performance in Pokkiri was lauded by critics. Her final project of the year was opposite Surya, in Hari's Vel, which had a Diwali 2007 release, subsequently becoming her third successful film which released during the Diwali season in three years. Asin, who portrayed a TV anchor, was appreciated for her role in the film.
 
Brand Ambassador

Asin has been the brand ambassador for several companies and products, and has appeared in commercials for Avon, Mirinda, Colgate, Fairever, Fair & Lovely, Lux, Tanishq, Tata Sky, Parachute, Spinz talc, Sure anti-perspirant, Tea, Big Bazaar, BPL Mobile and Clinic All Clear,.Asin's endorsement of Mirinda made her the only Indian actress to have completed ten years with a particular soft drink endorsement.


Personal life
Asin currently resides in Lokhandwala, Mumbai.She also owns an apartment in Marine Drive, Kochi and a farmhouse in Vagamon, Kerala.The actress can speak seven languages; being well-versed in Malayalam (her mother tongue), Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, French, English and Sanskrit. Asin also speaks a smattering of Italian, and learnt basic Marathi for her movie Khiladi 786 in which she played a typical Marathi girl. In June 2013, it was reported in the Indian media that Asin was learning German during her free time.She reportedly began learning Spanish after visiting Spain in early 2014.