Talk:Amara Karan

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Age[edit]

This article states that she was 24 on October 8, 2007. This article says she was 25 on October 13, 2007. Either she turned 25 between October 9 and 13, 2007, or one of the articles is wrong. Badagnani (talk) 02:19, 9 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We've no way of knowing when those interviews were given or if the journos asked her age (as opposed to taking it from some previous source), so for the time being i think it's best to put "c 1982". Amo (talk) 10:40, 9 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A new editor stating that she is Amara Karan appears to be editing this page; if she really is Karan, she can then hopefully confirm her birth year. Badagnani (talk) 19:26, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Surname[edit]

I am Amara Karan, and the Rediff interviewer made a mistake when he wrote in that article that my name used to be Karunakaran. I never said that to him. That is completely incorrect. The lankanewspapers and timesonline articles have sourced Rediff. I repped by ARG. You can confirm this with them. Their telephone number is 020 7436 6400. --—Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.6.214.108 (talk • contribs)

How do you believe this happened? The quote about the name is rendered as a direct quote. Badagnani (talk) 18:25, 2 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This page gives Karan's original surname as Karunakaran.

“

Oxford-educated Sri Lankan born actress Amara Karam (previously Karunakaran) makes her debut playing a train steward.

”

Can it be explained why this information is in this article, and how it got there, if it is not believed to be correct? The Times is generally considered to be a reputable and reliable source, and they have never run a correction about this. Is it the case that her parents had this surname, but gave her daughter (Amara) a different, shorter surname? It's just not yet making sense and does require some explanation. Badagnani (talk) 19:07, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please also see:

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/oct/08amara.htm

“

She grew up in London with her original last name, Karunakaran. "I let people know I am a Tamil," the 24-year-old actress, says. "But the name Karan suits me as an actress."

”

http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/6/29217_space.html

“

Amara Karunakaran

”

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/oct/01slid9.htm

“

Amara Karan, (whose full last name is Karunakaran), a London-raised actress of Sri Lankan origin, plays a saucy assistant train steward in the film.

”

Badagnani (talk) 19:12, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just managed to fudge up replacing the info. thanks for replacing it - why did you get rid of it again? Amo (talk) 19:51, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I simply replaced it, in the "early life" section, with a source that was actually in her own words. Badagnani (talk) 19:52, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Right, am a drunkard. Amo (talk) 19:56, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

British Hindus[edit]

The Category:British Hindus category was just removed. Is it accurate? Most Sri Lankan Tamil people are Hindu, are they not? Badagnani (talk) 19:28, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty sure if there's no source to say she's a hindu herself (certainly I've never seen one), then it shouldn't be in the article. Amo (talk) 19:51, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

American Jews are often not very religious (they eat bacon, lobster, etc.) but are still of Jewish heritage and we categorize them as such. A minority of Sri Lankan Tamils are Christian and maybe a few dozen are Muslim or atheists, but most are Hindu. Badagnani (talk) 19:53, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Category:British people of Tamil descent[edit]

Badagnani (talk · contribs) has repeatedly re-added Category:British people of Tamil descent — as well as Category:British Hindus, and Category:Tamil actors — after I have removed them.

Category:British Hindus was already addressed earlier on this page. There is no reference.

Category:Tamil actors is a subcategory of Category:Indian actors by language. There is no reference that she is a Tamil-language actor, although she is best known for playing an English-language Indian.

She is not appropriately in the descent category. The reference currently following the Tamil mention in the article has nothing in it about Tamil heritage.

According to the Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories)#Heritage policy:

People are sometimes categorized by notable ancestry, culture, or ethnicity, depending upon the common conventions of speech for each nationality. ...

In addition to the requirement of verifiability, living people must have self-identified as a particular heritage, while historical persons may be identified by notable association with a single heritage.
Heritage categories should not be used to record people based on deduction, inference, residence, surname, nor any partial derivation from one or more ancestors.

So far, she has not played a person of Tamil descent, and is not notable for Tamil heritage. Indeed, the references quote her as trying to play against type. And the change of name might be important for being more English than Tamil, as well as the edits purporting to be from her in the article and earlier on this page, indicate that she does not desire to be stereotyped as Tamil.

--William Allen Simpson (talk) 11:23, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All sources state she is Tamil; your stated criteria that she must play Tamil characters in order to be considered a British Tamil are solely the above editor's invention. Badagnani (talk) 16:38, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is probably resolvable by finding better sources. Will these do?

"A common misperception of me is... That I'm Indian. I'm actually Sri Lankan- Tamil , but I was born in London". The 5-minute Interview: Amara Karan, Actor, Independent, The (London, England) - Saturday, April 5, 2008, Author: Anna Hoyles
"Popular actresses such as Amara Karan are further signs of the community's success": Tamil Tigers in Britain: Burning less bright? (article about the British Tamil community), Economist, The (London, England) - Saturday, June 14, 2008
"Interview: Amara Karan, the Tamil Temptress coming to your screens": Asians in Media Magazine, October 13, 2008

The Independent statement is a clear self-indentification (and to be blunt, we really can't act on anon posters claiming an insider view that differs from reliable sources). Gordonofcartoon (talk) 21:07, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Great find on the self-identification! Now needs to actually be in this article. I'm getting a bit annoyed at the repeated assertion here (and elsewhere) that "all sources state" — they don't, and proof by assertion isn't a good argument.

But that's a 2-part test, and I don't see how it's "... relevant to the subject's notable activities or public life, according to reliable published sources. What does the fact that her parents may be Tamil have to do with her banking or acting? Especially as she backs away from any personal activism: "The troubles in Sri Lanka. However, I don't think it would be politic for me to say any more than that."

I'm often not as picky about the text in the article, because I hate to delete something that might be good information. I usually prompt for more {{fact}}s. (Officially, I know we're supposed to remove it immediately.)

But I'm a stickler for categories, since they cannot be prompted or footnoted. No reference, no category.

--William Allen Simpson (talk) 04:04, 29 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]