“Don’t look, mom” she said, like a good Desi girl.

« Class Among Cricket Selectors? :+: “It’s not a sympathy contest” says Vijay Mallya. »

Brown in America

“Don’t look, mom” she said, like a good Desi girl.

By: Karthik :+: Under: Brown in America, Entertainment
On: ⋅ October 10, 2007 ⋅

Email this post ⋅

Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
Discuss in our off-topic forums

Looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Amara Karan plays Rita, a train stewardess

Just when I skip my weekly routine of getting the New York Post, they talk Desi. This time around it is Amara Karan, the start of “The Darjeeling Limited”. In an interview with the Post, the ‘British Hottie’, revealed that she has banned her mom from watching the movie. Talking about her mom, she explained why.

She’s Sri Lankan and quite conservative. If she were to see that kissing, she’d be horrified.

Now that is a good girl. If I were you, I would do the same thing. I do not want my parents seeing me kissing, even if it is a part of my job. Amara’s real last name, Karunakaran. And she is Tamil yo. She chose Karan for her acting career and it looks like it’s working. With the film set to release in the UK in a few days, she might soon be the ‘it’ girl.

Her role did not come easy, she had to pick up a few skills before she bagged the role.

She had by then received the script and had signed the confidentially agreement. “I knew then Rita smokes in the film,” she remembers. “Now, I am not a smoker but I have friends who smoke. And I got them to help me practice smoking.”

During her chat with Wes Anderson, Amara casually tossed a cigarette into her mouth and started smoking. “I am sure it must have looked really spontaneous,” she says. Anderson did not waste any time before asking her if she would come aboard.

And it gets better, she is a graduate from Oxford, went into I-Banking before she decided to jump ship.

Although Amara says it would be fine for mom to see her next movie, where she plays a rebellious schoolgirl, her mom is still hoping that Amara goes back to I-Banking.

Mom was absolutely devastated, That won’t happen, she assured us.

So have you guys seen to movie? And what do you think of Amara’s choice of banning her mom?

Discussion

14 comments for ““Don’t look, mom” she said, like a good Desi girl.”

1: Runa | October 10, 2007, 4:59 pm | Direct Link

Plan to see the movie.Understand her banning her mom.
My semi off-topic question: How come, whenever I traveled alone by train in the des, I always ended up next to creepy guys and NEVER once with anyone remotely resembling Jason Scwatrzman/Adrian Brodsy/Owen Wilson?
Lest you berate me for calling the guys creepy , here is a random sample:
- Creepy guy # 1 attempted to chat me up and appropos of nothing told me he is divorcing his wife and asked if he could hold my hand- this 15 minutes after we boarded.
-Creepy Guy # 2- claimed to be an astrologer and wanted to read my hand. Evidently, my “vibrations” told him that my life would be wonderful after I turned 36.That happened a few years ago and I am still waiting for life to turn wonderful
- Creepy Guy # 3 - was in the next compartment ( you know desi trains have the 2 bunk compartments) and wanted me to shift into his compartment for “company” .Luckily the ticket collector saw me traveling alone and ensured that NO ONE was allocated the other bunk in mine.

2: Santosh | October 10, 2007, 5:07 pm | Direct Link

Runa,
You’re not alone. Travelling in Mumbai locals I’ve seen the worst kind of sexual harassment occur, both females and males are victims. In the case of male victims, the molestor is the middle-aged creepy guy and in the case of female victims, its a bunch of taporis (hooligans, in Hindi for the uninitiated) or anything with a penis in general.

3: Runa | October 10, 2007, 5:20 pm | Direct Link

Hi Santosh,
Welcome back! Well, I should qualify that I was speaking of long distance train travel.In Mumbai, I always traveled in the ladies’ compartment.Only once did I have a really bad experience in the general compartment and I never traveled by general compartment again! It kind of pisses me off that Darjeeling Limited shows a quickie between Amaraq and Jason - seems to trivialize the whole issue but thats just me!
I need to further add that in all the cases I did NOTHING to attract the “attention”.I was minding my own business when all this wnwanted attention happened.

4: Santosh | October 10, 2007, 5:24 pm | Direct Link

Hi Santosh,
Welcome back!

Thanks! Glad to be back, this time

5: desiDiva | October 10, 2007, 11:56 pm | Direct Link

Hope you are better Santosh.

Methinks mom’s friends, Amara’s local aunties, might have something to say about her role (and they are sooo going to see the movie). The local Indian community where she grew up is gonna be all chatty for sure — if it is anything like the one I grew up.

Come on. Her family should just see the movie. And be proud. It is not like she is kissing throughout the movie (it is not ‘that’ kind of movie)!

As a parent, you just see your own kids as asexual– you just don’t think about as much as lamenting their career, dress, music choices?

6: Karthik | October 11, 2007, 1:07 am | Direct Link

Creepy looking guys is one thing, but I hope no one has to go through this

7: Karthik | October 11, 2007, 12:50 pm | Direct Link

Plan to see the movie.

If you have the time, we would love a review.

My semi off-topic question: How come, whenever I traveled alone by train in the des, I always ended up next to creepy guys and NEVER once with anyone remotely resembling Jason Scwatrzman/Adrian Brodsy/Owen Wilson?

Not sure on when you went back, but I found a lot more foreigners on my trip last year. Not sure on how they looked, but hey on your next trip you might get lucky.

Lest you berate me for calling the guys creepy , here is a random sample:

Nah, we could not do that to you. I have seen enough creepy people myself.

Methinks mom’s friends, Amara’s local aunties, might have something to say about her role (and they are sooo going to see the movie). The local Indian community where she grew up is gonna be all chatty for sure — if it is anything like the one I grew up.

I am not so sure, to be honest it depends on the people. I have to force my parents to watch English movies (they hardly watch movies to being with) and I know for a fact that they will not pay to see one, even if a friends kid is in it. If they get a DVD that might be another thing.

As a parent, you just see your own kids as asexual– you just don’t think about as much as lamenting their career, dress, music choices?

I have a few years before I figure this one out. Parents, chime in please.

8: Runa | October 11, 2007, 12:51 pm | Direct Link

Is there an epidemic of transport related molestation? I just saw this

9: Santosh | October 11, 2007, 1:06 pm | Direct Link

How about Ralph “Voldermot” Fiennes and his mile high romp with an air hostess? It did happen on his way to India. I can just picture some desi aunty’s face as she realized vaat was happening in the toilet. Aiyooo!!

10: Runa | October 11, 2007, 2:29 pm | Direct Link

I can just picture some desi aunty’s face as she realized vaat was happening in the toilet. Aiyooo!!

err.. that desi auntie could be me since I generally disapprove of too much PDA.

Seriously,though this is way off topic , does anyone really find the idea of a mile high appealing? I mean IMO the airplane loos ( at least in cattle class) are barely large enough for one to - er- perform bodily functions comfortably let alone do a horizontal ( vertical?) mambo!

11: Karthik | October 11, 2007, 2:44 pm | Direct Link

err.. that desi auntie could be me since I generally disapprove of too much PDA.

Ahh come on, PDA’s are totally cool, depending on the place and the occasion of course.

Seriously,though this is way off topic , does anyone really find the idea of a mile high appealing?

They have a website, so it must be appealing. No?

I mean IMO the airplane loos ( at least in cattle class) are barely large enough for one to - er- perform bodily functions comfortably let alone do a horizontal ( vertical?) mambo!

The one’s in the other class are not very different either.

I have not done enough research on this subject, but I am guessing the Interwebs have a lot of information on best timing and what aircraft types are suitable.

Anyone else with more info on this?

12: Runa | October 11, 2007, 7:38 pm | Direct Link

As a parent, you just see your own kids as asexual– you just don’t think about as much as lamenting their career, dress, music choices?

Not until the kids turn into teenagers !

13: desiDiva | October 11, 2007, 9:49 pm | Direct Link

Runa,

My parents just ignored puberty to the best of their ability. But I see your point about teenagers. OMG teenagers not sure I am ready to deal with that yet.

I am more worried about how my husband will handle the whole thing (he jokes about buying guns, joking he says)….Ironically I am generally so more over-protective about the kids and he is super laid back.

SO–With my luck a decade later my daughter will be blogging about her uncool, ‘desi’ mom (oh no, that would me) and (dad will be cooler…;-)

Like I said, OMG teenagers not sure I am ready to deal with that yet.

14: Über Desi | Review: The Darjeeling Limited | April 14, 2008, 5:00 pm | Direct Link

[...] from a broken heart and readily succumbs to the charms of Rita (played by Amara Karan). (I just don’t get the fascination with coupling in cramped spaces while traveling. I don’t think the director ever went into an actual train loo in India – suffice to say that [...]