M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan
Shyamalan smiling
Shyamalan in 2018
Born
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan

(1970-08-06) August 6, 1970 (age 54)
Mahé, Puducherry (union territory), India
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNew York University
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
  • actor
Years active1992–present
OrganizationBlinding Edge Pictures
WorksFull list
Spouse
Bhavna Vaswani
​
(m. 1992)​
Children3, including Saleka and Ishana
AwardsFull list
HonorsPadma Shri (2008)[1]

Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan (/ˈʃɑːməlɑːn/ SHAH-mə-lahn;[2] born August 6, 1970)[3] is an American[4] filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally.[5] Shyamalan has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe.

Shyamalan was born in Mahé, India, and raised in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. His early films include Praying with Anger (1992) and Wide Awake (1998) before his breakthrough film The Sixth Sense (1999), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He then released Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002) and The Village (2004). Followed by a string of poorly received films—Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), and After Earth (2013)—he experienced a critical and commercial career resurgence with The Visit (2015), Split (2016), Glass (2019), Old (2021), Knock at the Cabin (2023), and Trap (2024).[6][7][8]

Shyamalan was also one of the executive producers and occasional director of the 20th Television science fiction series Wayward Pines (2015–2016) and the Apple TV+ psychological horror series Servant (2019–2023), for which he also served as showrunner.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Padma Shri brings Night to town | India News – Times of India". The Times of India. May 8, 2008. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "NLS: Say How, Q-T". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  3. ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1219. August 10, 2012. p. 27. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  4. ^ Huber, Robert; Wallace, Benjamin (2006). The Philadelphia Reader. Temple University Press. p. 197. Then [Shyamalan] changed his name. The idea came when he was applying for American citizenship at age 18.
  5. ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 13, 2021). "M. Night Shyamalan's Next Movie Gets a Title: 'Knock at the Cabin'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "Old". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  7. ^ "A Deeper Look at the Strange Career of M. Night Shyamalan". April 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Fall and Rise of M. Night Shyamalan". Rolling Stone. December 20, 2018.
  9. ^ Kornelis, Chris (January 12, 2022). "M. Night Shyamalan on Impostor Syndrome and His Old-School Film Techniques". Wsj.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Prizes of the International Jury". Berlinale.de. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2022.