About Asin Thottumkal. Biography.

Biography - Asin was born in Kochi, Kerala on 26 October 1985 to Josheph and Seline Thottumkal. Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from a Nasrani Christian family in Thodupuzha, managed several businesses. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal remains a surgeon, who moved settlements from Kochi 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".

She 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. The actress can speak seven languages; being well-versed in Malayalam (her mother tongue), two other South Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu) as well as Hindi, French, English and Sanskrit.

Asin Thottumkal debuted in a Malayalam film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001, at the age of 16. 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 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 become one of the biggest 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, 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.

After the release of Ullam Ketkumae, Asin was cited as a leading heroine of the Tamil film industry after starring in blockbuster films like Ghajini, Sivakasi, Varalaru and Pokkiri respectively. The film which provided the breakthrough for Asin was Ghajini. The film, co-starring Surya and was 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. 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.

The following year, her long-delayed venture, Varalaru opposite Ajith Kumar also succeeded at the box office. 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 criticized, 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.

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. 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. 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.

Ghajini is the highest grossing Bollywood film of 2008 and one of the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time. Asin later appeared in Vipul Shah's London Dreams alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, in which she played as a south Indian girl, Priya, who is emotional but strong willed and an ambitious dancer at the same time. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
After London Dreams, Asin rejected several Bollywood movies including Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan opposite Akshay Kumar, Delhi-6 opposite Abhishek Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar's Kartik Calling Kartik and Ashutosh Gowariker's period flick Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opposite Abhishek Bachchan and decided to be part of Tamil movie Kaavalan.

Kaavalan was released on 15 January 2011. The film was a critical and commercial success. 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".

Her next movie with Salman Khan, Ready was released on 3 June 2011 to mixed reviews. Critics praised the chemistry between Salman and Asin. Upon release, Ready became the second highest weekend grossing Bollywood film, after Dabangg and went on to became biggest grosser in Bollywood history.

In 2012, she appeared alongside Akshay Kumar in Sajid Khan'sHousefull 2. Housefull 2 became the third major success for Asin after Ghajini and Ready in Bollywood.

Asin is next set to appear in Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan, which also includes Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan and Prachi Desai. Asin has also signed Khiladi 786, which will reunite her with her Housefull 2 costar, Akshay Kumar., which is set for release in December 2012.