With a businessman father and a doctor mother, 27-year old Asin (meaning: pure or blemishless) had quite the lavish childhood. And keeping true to her name, the south Indian beauty's flawless skin and hair launched a 1000 ships, and a whole lot of ad assignments! Take for example, Fair Ever cream, Colgate Max Fresh toothpaste, and Parachute hair oil among others.

Asin has got a very Indian face. At first glance, one would probably not make out that she is a South Indian. But, what makes Asin special is the way she can carry off Indian ethnic clothes as well as she can carry western clothes. Chaitanya, a famous designer in South India, says: "She has that glam, classy look, but then again, it's not too boring either. She is the kind of girl who makes sure she does not wear clothes that are too revealing or short, hence giving a take-home-to-mom persona."

Chaitanya has designed clothes for most of Asin's Tamil movies. "Asin is a very intelligent dresser," says Chaitanya. "She knows just what to wear and present herself in, especially in public scenarios. She is very particular about her stylist."

Asin's personal style: Her personal style is very girl-next-door and simple. Given her lavish upbringing, this is quite a surprise. And that is why she is much loved by her fans, because it gives her a very "real" face. As Asin has a small frame and she is not very tall either, she sticks to flowly dresses. It gives the illusion of height and little more volume. Asin is blessed with beautiful rod straight hair. She likes to keep it long. So basically, there is a lot of things you can do to style her hair.

"We've tried a whole lot of colours on her. I think she looks great in a wide range of colours because of her complexion," says Chaitanya. But, to bring out her colour best, Asin should be more in bright colours. Not neon bright, but just happy bright. Yellow, red, blue and green in their bright avataars is ideally suited for her slightly dusky / wheatish complexion.

In order to look pure Bollywoodish, Asin has to be fashion conscious wearing designer’s clothes and has also to learn the way Bollywood top beauties carry the outfits. And she is doing all this presently. Asin's close friend reveals: "Since Ghajini’s success, Asin has been making an attempt to dress well and look stylish. She feels her contemporaries put in a lot of effort in the way they look and dress. When it comes to fashion Asin doesn’t believe in experimenting with her style that saves her from making fashion errors."

Asin's take on fashion and style:

Your style quotient: At home, its comfort clothing with flats and ponytail. All my fussy dresses and heels make an appearance for events but even then I am a low makeup girl, just some tinted moisturiser, kohl mascara and a shiseido lip balm... As for movies and shoots, I leave it to the stylists. In one word, I like to dress elegant.

What do you do when you are not shooting: Spend time with family, potter about at home with a book, meet up friends. I am just an ordinary 20-something you know.

Are you a fitness junkie: Absolutely. But I am not a fitness freak. I exercise to keep myself in shape, and even if I wasn't in this profession, I would have still done so. I like to keep myself fit and healthy.

One fashion tip: Indo-western might be the in style statement now, but when carrying off Indian or western wear, make sure you keep to the original styles for maximum oomph!

I start my day with: A cup of oats or a bowl of muesli and some fruit. Sometimes, I have an egg or idlis.

The minute I get up: I have to have my breakfast. I am an early riser - I am usually up by 6 am. But it depends on my schedule, if I have slept late then I wake up at around 9 am.

I am not a: Coffee or tea drinker. I am actually a water and milk baby.

My favourite fruits are: Mango, jackfruit, custard apple, different types of bananas.

My fitness regime: I do cardio and when I get the time, I do weights.

I lunch on: A few chapattis or a bowl of rice with vegetables. There are usually pulses for protein. I also love fish.

Asin's trivia

Asin made her debut in the Sathyan Anthikkad directed Malyalam movie Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001 when she was just 15 years old. Since then she has acted in both Tamil and Telegu films besides ‘Ghajini’.

DOB: 26th of October 1981

She speaks a wide range of languages such as Malyalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Sanskrit, English and French.

She is the only Indian actress with a Blogspot in French.

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