Asin Thottumkal

Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is an Indian actress. 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. 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 success films, most notable being the dramatic thriller 'the action thriller Pokkiri (2007) and the blockbuster Dasavathaaram (2008) opposite Kamal Haasan.In late 2008, Asin made her debut in the Bollywood film Ghajini (2008) opposite Aamir Khan which was the first Bollywood film to have collected more than 100 crore in the domestic box office, subsequently collecting 190 crore (US$33 million) worldwide. Asin won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and many accolades for Ghajini. 2011 marked the most turning phase of Asin's Bollywood career, as she starred in Anees Bazmee's romantic comedy, Ready, in which she co-starred alongside Salman Khan. The film was a major hit at the box office, collecting 184 crore (US$32 million) worldwide. In 2012, Asin first starred in Sajid Khan's multistarrer Housefull 2 which too collected more than 100 crore and received a blockbuster status.

Asin was born in Cochin (now Kochi) in Kerala on 26 October 1985, 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. Asin's father was keen to name her as Mary, after her grandmother. He 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.

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 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.