Asin Thottumkal
Asin at Housefull 2 promo in 2012.
Born	Asin Thottumkal (1985-10-26) 26 October 1985 (age 26)[1] Cochin, Kerala, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2001 – present
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[citation needed]
Parents	Joseph Thottumkal Dr. Seline Thottumkal
Website
asinonline.com

Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985^[1]), known mononymously as Asin, is an Indian film actress who predominantly appears in Hindi and Tamil Cinema ,while also appearing in Telugu and Malayalam Cinema once in a way. 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,she then appeared in several commercially successful films like Shivamani 9848022338 (2003), Lakshmi Narasimha (2004) and Gharshana (2004), she has thus established herself as a leading actress in Telugu Film Industry.^[2]

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 played the lead female roles in several films such as the dramatic thriller Varalaru (2006), the action thriler Sivakasi (2005),Pokkiri (2007) and Dasavathaaram (2008). She thus established her as leading actress in Tamil cinema.^[3][4]

In late 2008, Asin made her début in the Bollywood film Ghajini (2008) which was the first bollywood film to have collected more than 100 crore in the domestic box office, subsequently winning the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She also starred in blockbuster movies Ready (2011) opposite Salman Khan and Housefull 2 (2012) alongside Akshay Kumar, thus establishing herself as a leading actress in Bollywood as well.^[5] Her recent hindi release Housefull 2 also had record breaking opening collections in Bollywood.^[6]

Early life & background[link]

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,^[7] 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".^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

Career[link]

Early work (2001–2004)[link]

Asin at the screen awards 2012.

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.^[11] In the same year she won the Santosham Best Actress Award for her performance alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna in her second Telugu film, Shivamani.^[11] 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.^[12] After a brief return to Telugu films, to do Chakram, she appeared in Ullam Ketkumae.^[13] 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.^[14]

Breakthrough (2005–2007)[link]

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.^[15] 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. Sify.com praised her portrayal as "magical", describing 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".^[16] 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.^[17][18]

The following year, her long-delayed venture, Varalaru opposite Ajith Kumar also succeeded at the box office, and The Hindu said she "looks lustrous and sails through her role smoothly".^[19] Asin appeared in Pawan Kalyan's Annavaram, another successful venture which was a remake of Thirupaachi.^[20] 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.^[21][22] 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.^[23]

Success & hindi films (2008–2010)[link]

Asin in 2010.

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.^[24] Dasavathaaram subsequently went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters in South Indian film history.^[25]

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. Noted critic, Taran Adarsh described 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.^[26]

Ghajini is the highest grossing Bollywood film of 2008 and sixth highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time according to net collections.^[27] 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.^[28][29] The film received mixed reviews from critics.

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,^[30] Delhi-6 opposite Abhishek Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar's Kartik Calling Kartik^[31] and Ashutosh Gowariker's period flick Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opposite Abhishek Bachchan^[32] and decided to be part of Tamil movie Kaavalan.

Kaavalan was released on 15 January 2011. The film was a critical and commercial success.^[33] 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". After this film, she is the highest paid south Indian actress with 2 crore (US$399,000).^[34]

Bollywood films (2011–present)[link]

Asin at Housefull 2 party at Akshay Kumar's house, 2012.

Her next movie with Salman Khan, Ready was released on 3 June 2011 to mixed reviews.^[35] Critics praised the chemistry between Salman and Asin.^[36] Upon release, Ready became the second highest weekend grossing Bollywood film, after Dabangg^[37] and went on to became the fifth film in Bollywood history to collect more than 100 crore (US$19.95 million) in the domestic market.^[38]

Housefull 2 opposite Akshay Kumar released on 6th April 2012. Housefull 2 became the third blockbuster for Asin after Ghajini and Ready in bollywood, which also went on to collect more than 100 crore (US$19.95 million) in the domestic market.^[39] The critics praised Asin as compared to other actresses in the film proving her acting capability and star power.^[40] Bollywood Hungama's reviewer Taran Adarsh stated, "Amongst the female leads, Asin has the meatiest role and gives a decent account of herself. Jacqueline, Shazahn and Zarine act more as eye candy."^[41] While a reviewer from Behindwoods stated "Asin looks super chic and has really spiced up her clothes with her generous necklines, micro-minis and hot pants."^[42] and another reviewer from Sify.com stated, "Asin shines with her spirited act."^[43]

She is currently filming for Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan, which also includes Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan. The shooting of the film is currently in progress and is slated for July 2012 release.^[44]

Awards[link]

Asin has won 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.^[45] She also won the Giant award along with Shahid Kapoor in the same year.^[46]

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 Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for her Hindi debut in Ghajini.

Asin was also awarded for her achievements and success in the field of entertainment by the government of Kerala in March 2012. The annual award is presented to women who are true icons for young women in Kerala. She quoted,

"I'm honoured and humbled. It was amazing to receive the award on home soil. Though I have attended several award ceremonies and bagged several honours all these years, this was singularly unique for me. It was special even for my family. Being recognised by people in the place where you come from has special significance."^[47]

She has also won Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow - Female, IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female and Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female and was also nominated for Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in Ghajini. Apart from her Filmfare awards, she has also won Santosham Best Actress Award for her performance in Shivamani 9848022338 alongside Nagarjuna and ITFA Best Actress Award for her portrayal of a Brahmin girl opposite Kamal Haasan in Dasavathaaram. In 2012, she won the "Pride of Kerala" award at the Asianet Film Awards.

Other works[link]

Brand ambassador[link]

Asin at Fairever launch.

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, Fair & Lovely, ^[48]and Sure (anti-perspirant).^[49]

The soap brand Lux signed Asin as their brand ambassador in late 2010.^[50] Earlier, Asin was also signed as the brand ambassador for Amrutanjan.^[51] Asin was also the brand ambassador for Big Bazaar, with the Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.^[52]

Philanthropy[link]

Asin Thottumkal has decided to fund the education of Radhika, an eight-year-old orphan girl from Kerala.^[53] During her shoot of her film Ready with Salman Khan she was part of the camps that were meant to help the Sri Lankan Tamil people who were affected by the wars in Sri Lanka.^[54]

In an interview during the Women’s Half Marathon, Asin was talking about the importance of health and the necessity of eductaion and quoted,

“This cause is probably one of the biggest women centric issues in our country. I support the education of six children each year, five of which are girls. I have closely worked with these children and I know that if given the opportunity, women can educate themselves much better and know what is wrong or right for them. Education is a basic right and women should not be deprieved of that."^[55]

Filmography[link]

Hindi[link]

Tamil[link]

Telugu[link]

Malayalam[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Asin (actress)

• Asin at the Internet Movie Database

Neil Nitin Mukesh
Born	Neil Nitin Mukesh Chand Mathur (1982-01-15) 15 January 1982 (age 30) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other names	Neil Nitin Mukesh
Occupation	Actor, Playback Singer
Years active	1988–1989 2007–present
Height	5'9"

Neil Nitin Mukesh Chand Mathur pronunciation: /niːl niʈin mʊkeɪʃ/; born 15 January 1982), professionally known as Neil Nitin Mukesh or Neil Mukesh, is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is the son of singer Nitin Mukesh and grandson of the legendary singer Mukesh.

Early life[link]

Mukesh was born in Mumbai to Bollywood playback singer Nitin Mukesh and Nishi Mukesh. He was named by Lata Mangeshkar after astronaut Neil Armstrong as his father was a big fan of his. After attending Greenlawns High School in Mumbai, he graduated from HR College with a Bachelor's degree in Communications. He did a 4-month workshop with Kishore Namit Kapoor and also at Anupam Kher's institute during his college vacation. He also assisted Kunal Kohli in his film Mujhse Dosti Karoge while still in college.

Career[link]

As a child artist, Mukesh appeared in Vijay (1988) and Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni (1989). He received several offers as a lead actor before his acting debut as an adult, but as he did not want to debut with a love story, he chose to wait for the right role. It was then that Sriram Raghavan offered him Johnny Gaddaar ^[1][2] Although the movie did not do well at the box-office, his acting was appreciated.

His next films were Aa Dekhen Zara, New York and Madhur Bhandarkar's Jail.^[3] He also appeared in Yash Raj's Lafangey Parindey.

He was praised for his latest film 7 Khoon Maaf. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, it starred Priyanka Chopra alongside John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Annu Kapoor. Priyanka played the role of a woman who has seven husbands of which the youngest one is being played by Mukesh.^[4]

Awards and nominations[link]

Filmfare Awards[link]

Nominated

• 2008: Filmfare Best Male Debut Award-Johnny Gaddaar
• 2010: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award-New York (film)

Star Screen Awards[link]

Nominated

• 2008: Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Male; Johnny Gaddaar

Stardust Awards[link]

Nominated

• 2008: Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Male; Johnny Gaddaar

IIFA Awards[link]

Winner

• 2008 - Fresh Face of the Year^[5]

Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards[link]

• 2008 - Best Villain

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• Nitin Mukesh
• Mukesh

References[link]

External links[link]

• Neil Nitin Mukesh at the Internet Movie Database

Nitin Mukesh is an Indian singer best known for his work as a playback singer in Hindi films^[1] as well as Bhajans. He was born to Mukesh (famous singer). He has toured internationally, including to the United States in 1993,^[2] and a world tour in 2006 with his show Kal Ki Yaadein^[3] as a tribute to his father.^[4]

Nitin's son Neil Mukesh is an actor.^[5]

Songs by film[link]

• "Dil Ne Dil Se" (Aaina)
• "Is Jahaan Ki Nahin Hain" (King Uncle)
• "Chandi Ki cycle" (Bhabhi)
• "paisa bolta hai" (Kala Bazaar)
• "Krishna-Krishna" (Kishan kanhaiya)
• "Tu Mujhe Suna" (Chandni)
• "Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni" (Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni)
• "So Gaya Yeh Jahan" (Tezaab)
• "Woh Kehte Hain Humse" (Dariya Dil)
• "Zindagi Har Kadam" (Meri Jung)
• "Zindagi Ki Na Toote Ladi" (Kranti)
• "Aaja Re" (Noorie)
• "My name is lakhan" (Ram Lakhan)
• Wafa Na Raas Aayee, Tujhe Woh Harjayee" (Bewafa Sanam)
• "Duma Dum Mast Kalandar" [Nasbandi]
• "Mere Khayal se Tum" (Balmaa)
• "Zindagi Ka Naam Dosti (Duet/solo)" - (Khudgarz) (1987)
• "Hey Re daya May Apni Daya" Ghar Ghar ki Kahani (1970)-Mukesh,Asha Bhosle,Nitin Mukesh

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nitin Mukesh at the Internet Movie Database

This article about an Indian singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.^[1]

The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad.^[2] Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination."^[3]

The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.

Hart wrote another book in 1999, entitled A View from the Year 3000,^[4] voiced in the perspective of a person from that future year and ranking the most influential people in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictional people from 2000–3000, but the remainder are actual people. These were taken mostly from the 1992 edition, with some re-ranking of order.

Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)[link]

Rank	Name	Time Frame	Image	Occupation	Influence
1	Muhammad	c. 570–632		Secular and religious leader	The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist.
2	Isaac Newton	1643–1727		Scientist	English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion laid the groundwork for classical mechanics.
3	Jesus Christ	7–2 BC – 26–36 AD		Spiritual leader	The central figure of Christianity, revered by Christians as the Son of God and the incarnation of God.
4	Buddha	563–483 BC		Spiritual leader	Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism and is also considered an Gautama Buddha in Hinduism.
5	Confucius	551–479 BC		Philosopher	Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indonesian thought and life. Founded Confucianism, and influenced Neo-Confucianism and New Confucianism.
6	St. Paul	5–67 AD		Christian apostle	One of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, credited with proselytizing and spreading Christianity outside of Palestine (mainly to the Romans) and author of numerous letters of the New Testament of the Bible.
7	Cài Lún	50–121 AD		Political official in imperial China	Widely regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process.
8	Johannes Gutenberg	1398–1468		Inventor	German printer who invented the mechanical printing press.
9	Christopher Columbus	1451–1506	70px	Explorer	Italian navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents.
10	Albert Einstein	1879–1955		Scientist	German theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2.

See also[link]

• Time 100

References[link]

1. ^ Michael H. Hart The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions 1992. ISBN 978-0-8065-1068-2
2. ^ The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Michael H. Hart, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History", Citadel Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-0-8065-1350-8
4. ^ Michael H. Hart. A view from the year 3000: a ranking of the 100 most influential persons of all time; first published in 1999

External links[link]

• Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People

Komal Nahta is the editor and publisher of "Film Information", India's largest film trade journal. He is also an anchor of the Trade show ETC Bollywood Business on the Bollywood TV channels ETC and Zee Cinema. ^[1] He is also the co-owner of koimoi.com which is a joint foray into the Online Entertainment & News segment in partnership with Mr. Alok Kejriwal (CEO, Games2Win India Pvt. Ltd.). He is also the Chairman of Eros International.

Career[link]

His interviews are carried by many satellite channels, including CNBC, STAR, Zee, B4U, NDTV, Zoom and Doordarshan. He was also the Bollywood representative of the BBC for almost 10 years. The Asian Development bank(ADB) has appointed him advisor for its film financing division, the first person from the film industry to be so appointed. He has recently launched a new tabloid called "The Film Street Journal".^[2]

On 26 April 2010, Nahta replaced Taran Adarsh as the host of ETC Bollywood Business on the indian TV channels ETC (India) and Zee Cinema (UK). The show airs daily on weekdays at 8:30 pm in India^[3] and at 7:30 pm in the UK. On Mondays, the show is about the previous fridays collections. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Nahta speaks to various artists from the film industry. Thursdays preview films releasing on Friday. On Fridays, Nahta will be review films released on that day.^[4][5] The show launched the first episode with Sajid Nadiadwala as the guest. He is also the Editor of Entertainment website www.koimoi.com^[6] He has also given a special appearance in the 2010 comedy, Tees Maar Khan, along with Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Akshaye Khanna.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile from Sify.com
• Komal Nahta on Twitter
• Box Office Half-Yearly Report Card: RED MARKS ALL THE WAY!
• Alliance Against Copyright Theft To Combat Piracy: A Joke
• Google search results

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