Asin

Asin Thottumkal  born 26 October 1985, known mononymously as Asin is an Indian film actress, model and a stage performer.

Making her acting debut in Sathyan Anthikkad's Malayalam film Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001), Asin had her first commercial success with Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi in 2003, and won a Filmfare Award for the Best Telugu Actress for the film.

 

After a number of films, she received her second South Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in her second Tamil film, Ghajini (2005). She played the lead female roles in blockbusters, the thriller Ghajini (2005) and the action comedy Varalaru (2006). In 2008, Asin made her début in Bollywood, with Ghajini, the remake of its Tamil namesake, subsequently winning the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award.

 

Early life and background

Asin was born in Kochi, Kerala and attended high school at the Naval Public School. Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from an Achayan family in 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".

Early work, until 2004

Asin Thottumkal debuted in a supporting role in Sathyan Anthikkad's 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.

Filmography

Year	Film	Language	Role	Notes
2001	Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka	Malayalam	Swathi
2003	Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi	Telugu	Chennai	Winner, Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award
	Shivamani 9848022338	Telugu	Vasantha	Winner, Santosham Best Actress Award
2004	Lakshmi Narasimha	Telugu	Rukhmini
	Gharshana	Telugu	Maya
	M. Kumaran son of Mahalakshmi	Tamil	Bhuvana
2005	Chakram	Telugu	Lakshmi
	Ullam Ketkumae	Tamil	Priya
	Ghajini	Tamil	Kalpana	Winner, Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award
	Majaa	Tamil	Seetha Lakshmi
	Sivakasi	Tamil	Hema
2006	Varalaru	Tamil	Divya
	Annavaram	Telugu	Aishwarya
2007	Aalwar	Tamil	Priya
	Pokkiri	Tamil	Shruthi	Nominated, Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine
	Vel	Tamil	Swathi
2008	Dasavathaaram	Tamil	Kothai Radha, Andaal	Winner, ITFA Best Actress Award Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Actress
	Ghajini	Hindi	Kalpana Shetty	Winner, Filmfare Best Female Debut Award Winner, IIFA Star Debut Award Winner, Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2009	London Dreams	Hindi	Priya
2010	Kaavalan	Tamil	Meera	Releasing December 17, 2010
2011	Ready	Hindi	Sanjana	Filming
	Barfee	Hindi		Pre-Production
	Pocketmaar	Hindi		Pre-Production