Asin Thottumkal
(born October 26, 1985) is an award-winning Indian film actress from the state of Kerala. Currently , she is considered to be one of the most popular actresses in the South Indian film industry.
Making her acting debut in Sathyan Anthikkad's 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 critically and commercially successful 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 two consecutive top grossers, Ghajini (2005) which is her biggest commercial success to date, and the action comedy Varalaru (2006) and this way has established herself as one of the most prominent leading actresses of South Indian cinema. More recently, Asin made her début in Bollywood, with Ghajini, the remake of its Tamil namesak
Asin was born into a Syrian Christian family from Ernakulam in Kochi district, Kerala. Her father, Joseph Thotumkal, managed several businesses and was considered a prominent entrepreneur before he stopped managing his businesses and decided to manage his daughter's acting career instead. Furthermore Asin's father accompanies her to all her foreign shoots. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal, remains a surgeon despite moving settlements from Cochin to Chennai to Mumbai to live with her daughter. Asin has quoted that her name "means without blemish and pure". She claims that "the 'A' in [her] name is from Sanskrit and word ‘Sin’ from English". She also mentions that she "has not come across anyone with same name."
Asin appeared in her first dual role in K. S. Ravikumar's magnum opus Dasavathaaram opposite Kamal Haasan, who portrayed ten roles. She looks fresh and photogenic and acts her part brilliantly", giving Asin's performance a positive outlook. The only other project Asin is commiitted to, as of 2009, is Vipul Shah's London Dreams alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, in which she plays a member of a five-troupe band.