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GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF l 2012 SEPTEMBER 19 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 62

sin Thottumkal is the hat-trick girl in tinsel town. Chic looking, vivacious and twinkle-toed in her dance routines, Asin is Keralas gift-wrapped version of the stylish modern girl to cinema. Hailing from Kochi, this star has, in a relatively short career span, dug in her high heels in Bollywood to join the league of predecessors like Hema Malini and Sridevi who were among the handful of heroines from the South to become leading ladies in Hindi cinema. Asin (which she says is a portmanteau of the Sanskrit A prefix for without and the English word sin, translating as without blemish) was just 16 when she debuted in a cameo role in Sathyan Anthikkads Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001. Two years later; it is cut to Tollywood in the Telugu flick Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi. She would later reprise her role as a Tamil girl in that film that fetched her the Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress in her Kollywood debut. This time playing a Malayali girl opposite Jayam Ravi in M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi (2004). Asins defining year in cinema was 2005 when she rose to the top of the league of actresses with the breakthrough film Ghajini in which she was cast opposite superstar Suriya. Her role as Kalpana fetched her the Tamil Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She was on a roll that season delivering successive hits in Sivakasi starring Vijay and Majaa starring Vikrama rare feat of delivering a hat-trick with all three Tamil superstars. In 2007, she would deliver successive hits in her now-blossoming career through the Vijay blockbusters Pokkiri and Vel. The following year, she featured in her first double role in K S Ravikumars Dasavatharam with critics praising her for coming up with a performance that more than matched Kamal Hassan who figured in ten roles. Playing a 12th century Vaishnavite in one role and a Brahmin girl from Chidambaram in the other, Asin bagged the ITFA Best Actress Award. One of the highlights of Asins career has been the timing of her entries into different industries. Consider how well-planned her Malayalam-Telugu-Tamil journey had been. That she has done only about 25-30 films in just over a decade also gives the impress that she is choosy and puts quality over quantity. For Asin, the ticket to Bollywood was still wait-listed. Eventually, her Hindi debut proved that there was much sweetness in the waiting because she got to star opposite Aamir Khan in the Ghajini remake in 2008. The record-breaking run of the Hindi version of Ghajini not only established her as a frontline actor in the Ivy League of Indian cinema but also offered an opportunity for Asin to experience the sheer magJyothi Varma nitude of success in Bollywood as opposed to Malayalam, or for that matter Tamil. In 2011, she delivered the second hat-trick of her career with a string of hits that began with Kaavalan (Tamil) and were followed by the Bollywood block-busters Ready and Housefull 2. Asin is also well-known for her philanthropy. One of the spheres closest to her heart is womens education and she is actively engaged in supporting this cause. As the year draws to a close, this star has a lot riding for her in the upcoming release Khiladi 786. n

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Keralas gift to Bollywood

Asin