M Night Shyamalan’s latest film, The Last Airbender, released in the country this weekend and the director is hopeful it will do well here because of its Asian influences. “Indian families will find it interesting,” he asserts. Shyamalan, whose first film, Praying With Anger (1992), was shot in India, is all praise for AR Rahman, who he says is "such a prize for India". He also
expressed the desire to work with him in the future. "I’m considering bringing one of my ideas to India. I’m really keen on shooting one of my films here," he admits.
The Last Airbender, Shyamalan’s first action film, was made on a reported budget of $250 million, a huge investment for a director whose last two movies did not do well.
When quizzed on how he plans to recover his investment, he retorts, “I don’t know where you got these numbers from.”
{{/usCountry}}When quizzed on how he plans to recover his investment, he retorts, “I don’t know where you got these numbers from.”
{{/usCountry}}Hits and flops
The film has been panned universally, but Shyamalan is positive: “I’m an artiste and I love what I do. I’d want all my movies to make money and The Last Airbender took off to a good start. If you insist on talking about numbers, seven out of my eight movies have been hits, which is a pretty good record.”
Shyamalan, who shot to fame with the supernatural thriller, Sixth Sense (1999), has veered away from the occult for the first time in The Last Airbender.
Has he ever been scared by a true-life ghostly experience? He laughs, “Nothing specific like what you see in my movies. But I believe strongly that these things are possible.”