| Full Name |
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan |
| Other Name |
Night Shyamalan |
| Profession |
Director, Screenwriter and Actor |
| Date of birth |
6th August 1970 |
| Place of birth |
Pondicherry, India |
| Religion |
Hindu |
| Sun Sign |
Leo |
| Education |
- Filmmaking -> Tisch School of the Arts –
- Graduation -> New York University – 1992
- Episcopal Academy, a private school in Lower Merion, PA
|
| Hair |
Coal-black |
| Eyes |
Lively brown |
| Family |
- Father : Nelliate C. Shyamalan-> Is a cardiologist.
- Mother : Jayalakshmi Shyamalan -> Is an obstetrician
- Spouse : Bhavna – having 2 Kids ( Married since 1993 )
|
| Name of his company |
Blinding Edge Pictures |
| Residence |
Wayne, Pennsylvania |
| Likes to read |
Comic books |
| Fueled the passion for filmaking |
Super-8 camera he received when he was 8 years old. |
| Idol |
Steven Spielberg |
| First Film |
Praying With Anger (1993) |
| Favorite films |
- Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” – all time film
- “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
- “The Exorcist”
- “Die Hard”
|
| Favourite Director |
Alfred Hitchcock |
| Salary |
- Signs (2002) -> $12,500,000
- Unbreakable (2000) -> $10,000,000
- Sixth Sense, The (1999) -> $3,000,000
|
| Sixth sense |
The movie made him a world famous screenwriter and director in 1999 and it was the No.2 box-office phenomenon, surpassed only by Star Wars I. |
| Premiere’s annual Power 100 List |
- Ranked #23 in 2004
- Ranked #21 in 2003
- Ranked #64 in 2002
- 5th-highest ranked director
|
| Awards and Honors |
-
Episcopal Academy’s 2001 Distinguished Alumni Award
-
Gold in the 1999 blockbuster
-
Two Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Picture for the film Sixth Sense
-
Golden Satellite 1999
|
| Filmography |
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
- The Village (2004)
- Signs (2002) -> Producer, Actor, Director, Writer
- Unbreakable (2000) -> Producer, Actor, Director, Writer
- The Sixth Sense (1999) -> Actor, Director, Writer
- Stuart Little (1999) -> Writer
- Wide Awake (1998) -> Director, Writer
- Praying With Anger (1993) ->Producer,Actor,Director,Writer
|
| Milestones |
- With family moved from India to Penn Valley, Pennsylvania.
- 1980 Began making film at age 10 (date approximate).
- 1986 By age 16, had completed 45th short film.
- 1992 Feature film debut as writer, director and star of “Praying With Anger”, filmed in Madras, India in 1992.
- 1993-1994 Wrote screenplay for “Labor of Love”; sold to Fox for $750,000
- 1995 Sold the script for “Wide Awake” to Miramax for $250,000 on condition the film will be done in Philadelphia.
- 1997 Hired to rewrite script for “Stuart Little” (1999).
- 1999 Breakthrough film, “The Sixth Sense”, starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment; wrote and directed and made cameo appearance as a doctor.
- 2000 Reportedly received $5 million to write and $5 million to direct the thriller “Unbreakable”, starring Willis and Samuel L Jackson.
- 2002 Wrote and directed the supernatural thriller “Signs,” starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.
- 2003 Reunited with Joaquin Phoenix for the horror feature “The Woods”, for which he served as writer and director.
|
| Fast Facts |
- Name pronounced SHAH-ma-lawn.
- Middle name Night was made up during college.
- 1988 Graduate of Episcopal Academy.
- The silver charm worn around his neck was given to him by his father and contains Sanskrit proverbs to keep him safe.
- Films are religiously themed.
- Next film The Life Of Pi which will be shot in Pondicherry, India
- Got married when he was only 22 years old.
- Well versed in martial art Kempo
- Highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood (Disney gave him $5 million to write Signs (2002))
|
| Quote |
“I play for a living…Success is tied to a feeling of magic, which I can protect and My hope is we broke so many rules we created a new rule”. |
