M. Night Shyamalan- I see India
A few weeks ago the Indian government surprised many by conferring the Padma Shri on M. Night Shyamalan. The Padma awards are one of the highest honors that India bestows upon people for exceptional work done in their fields. While M. Night might be one of the most talked about filmmakers in the recent past, the award definitely shocked many including himself. For starters the Philly based filmmaker had no idea what the hell the Padma Shri meant! It was only after family and friends explained the nature of the honor that Night smiled.
The press went crazy while Shyamalan was in India to receive the award from the President of India. Every newspaper and news channel had him talking about his surprise endings, his forthcoming film and what have you. Shyamalan went to town on how this trip meant a lot to him- his first Padma Award, his visit to India and the both coinciding with the release of his first Indian co-production. Shyamalan came across as someone who wasn’t match-fit for the interaction with the media. Of course, the local press wanted to hear his views on Indian films (he doesn’t watch them), Indian superstars (he had no clue), if he would ever work with Shah Rukh Khan (he couldn’t remember Khan’s name three interviews later) but Shyamalan didn’t say anything that a seven year old wouldn’t. Here lies the dichotomy. Night doesn’t court Hollywood and stays out of the spotlight, his wife apparently knows everything what’s happening in the Mumbai film industry and yet Night claimed that he had no idea about Amitabh Bachchan. Which is strange for he came across as a regular 'desi' guy when he spoke of his life and the close-knit ‘Indian’ family that he has.
There could only be two reasons for this strange behavior on his part. The Happening has turned out better than what the studios were expecting and this could put M. Night back on track. This would mean that he won’t have to do any running around for his next big budget feature. Either that or he was just trying to hide behind the fact that an Indian studio was largely responsible for getting The Happening financed. Most of us are aware the response that The Lady in the Water received and how it became difficult for Night to convince studios to pay up for his next feature. After many changes he finally got around The Happening but not before UTV came on board and eventually got Fox too.
The problem isn’t really with Night but how Indians perceive him. Indian film media loves filmmakers of Indian origin such as Gurinder Chadha, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and M. Night. The media here hasn’t really discovered Bharat Nalluri of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day yet. The press thinks that the success of these people is actually going to help Indian films. While that is not totally untrue, it would be stupid to believe in it as if it were the Gospel truth. M. Night never claimed to be an Indian. The only thing remotely Indian in any of films is his own presence in front of the camera. In all the time he was in India, Night behaved as someone who was treated like an outsider back in America and was now making the best of doing the same number on the press that was bending backwards courting him.
I’m a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan and love his films. The only Night film that I haven’t seen is The Lady in the Water. I really wanted to but it got pulled out from the screens a week after it’s release in India. I’m looking forward to The Happening and all the usual M. Night Shyamalan moments that it would coffer up but I wish I hadn’t seen or read his interviews. There is surely something about magical about what you don’t know and M. Night knows this better than anyone else.
