Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin is an Indian film actress, model and 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 Best Telugu Actress Award for the film.
After a number of films, she received her second South Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her critically acclaimed performance in her second Tamil film, Ghajini (2005). She played the lead female roles in blockbusters such as the action comedy Varalaru (2006), the action thriller Pokkiri (2007) and the big budget production Dasavathaaram (2008). In late 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, India and attended Naval Public School from L.K.G.(Pre.K) through 10th standard (grade). She then attended St. Teresa’s School in Kochi for her Plus Two education. After that she attended St. Teresa’s College for Women in Kochi, a college affiliated with MG University, where she earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature.[2] Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from a Nasrani (Syro Malabar) family in Thodupuzha,[3] managed several businesses before he decided to manage his daughter’s acting career. 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”.
Career
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.[5] In the same year she won the Santosham Best Actress Award for her performance alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna in her second Telugu film, Shivamani.[5] 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.[6] After a brief return to Telugu films, to do Chakram, she appeared in Ullam Ketkumae.[7] The film, initially launched in 2002, 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 lead cast.[8]
Breakthrough 2005–2007
After the release of Ullam Ketkumae, Asin was cited as a leading heroine after the Tamil industry films Ghajini, Majaa, Sivakasi and Varalaru respectively.[9] 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. Her role was that of a vivacious young model named Kalpana. Sify.com praised her portrayal as “magical”, descriving her character as a “lovable chatterbox”, played with “sheer ability in the romantic interludes, the poignant and heartfelt scenes when she rescues minor girls from villains and her gory end are touching”.[10] The following Diwali in 2005, Asin had two releases, Sivakasi and Majaa. Despite the latter becoming an average grosser, the former went on to be a successful venture at the box office, despite Asin’s poorly etched out role.[11][12]
The following year, her long-delayed venture, Varalaru opposite Ajith Kumar’s hero-centric plot retreated Asin to the sidelines, but The Hindu said she “looks lustrous and sails through her role smoothly”.[13] Asin appeared in Pawan Kalyan’s Annavaram, another successful venture in which she had a poorly-etched out role.[14] 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 criticized, her performance in Pokkiri was lauded by critics.[15][16] 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.[17]
Success 2008–2010
Asin at the Fairever Fruit Fairness Cream launch event, 2009
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 portrayals in the film were praised as her “best-to-date” with one of her roles being that of a Vaishnavite in 12th century Tamil Nadu; whilst the other character was a Brahmin girl from Chidambaram for which she won her first ITFA Best Actress Award.[18] Dasavathaaram subsequently went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters in South Indian film history.[19]
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.[20] It is currently the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time according to net collections.[21] Asin later appeared in Vipul Shah’s London Dreams alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, in which she played a member of a five-troupe band.[22][23] The film received mixed reviews from critics.[24]
After the debacle of London dreams in which most of her scenes were chopped off, Asin rejected several bollywood movies including Priyadarshan’s De Dana Dan opposite Akshay kumar[25], Farhan Akhtar’s Kartik Calling Kartik[26] and more recently, Ashutosh Gowariker’s period flick Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opposite Abhishek Bachchan[27] and decided to be part of Tamil movie Kaavalan.
Recent Work 2011
Kaavalan was released on 15 January 2011. The film was a critical and commercial success.[28] Behindwoods review of the film praised her performance: “Asin, in Tamil for the first time after Dasavatharam, convinces us with her portrayal. The chemistry of the lead pair has worked out well; especially the portions where Asin tries various ways to exasperate Vijay; things that ultimately result in love”.[29] Her next movie with Salman Khan, Ready was released on 3 June 2011 with mixed reviews[30] but however the reviewers praised the chemistry between Salman and Asin.[31] Upon release, Ready became the second highest weekend grossing Bollywood film, after Dabangg[32] and went on to became the fifth in Bollywood history to collect more than 100 crore in the domestic market and was declared as an all time blockbuster.[33] She is currently working on Housefull 2 in London opposite Akshay Kumar for the first time under the direction of Sajid Khan which will be produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.[34]
Other work
Fhilanthropy
Asin Thottumkal has decided to fund the education of Radhika, an eight-year-old orphan girl from Kerala.[35] She also was part of the camps that were meant to help the Sri Lankan Tamil people who were affected by the wars in Sri Lanka during her shoot of her film Ready with Salman Khan.[36]
Brand Ambassador
Asin is the brand ambassador for a number of products including Fairever Fairness cream, Clinic All Clear Shampoo, Parachute Hair Oil, Colgate Maxfresh Tooth paste, Mirinda (soft drink), Spinz Talcum Powder, BIG 92.7 FM Radio station, Tanishq, Goldplus Jewellery, Tata Sky and Sure (anti-perspirant).[37] The popular soap brand Lux signed Asin as their brand ambassador in late 2010.[38] Earlier, Asin was also signed as the brand ambassador for Amrutanjan.[39] Asin was also the brand ambassador for Big Bazzar, with the Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.[40]
Awards and Honours
Asin has bagged a number of awards for her performance in various films in the Tamil Telugu and Hindi industries, including the Kalaimamani award by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2009.[41] She also won the Giant award along with Shahid Kapoor in the same year.[42] She has won various Filmfare awards and other prominent awards for her acting skills in all three major industries which she has been part of in her career. The three filmfare awards, she has won so far includes, Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Ghajini and Best Debut(Female) Award for her Hindi debut in Ghajini. She has also won Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female, IIFA Star Debut Award and Star Screen Award for Best Promising Newcomer-Female and was also nominated for Filmfare Best Actress Award for her outstanding performance in Ghajini. Apart from her filmfare awards, she has also won Santosham Best Actress Award for her scintillating performance in Shivamani 9848022338 alongside Nagarjuna and ITFA Best Actress Award for her portrayal of a Brahmin girl opposite Kamal Haasan in Dasavathaaram.
