Manoj Night Shyamalan

Manoj Night Shyamalan is a consummate performer, with an ability to harness undergrad good looks, a million watt smile, and an ability to talk nineteen to the dozen into a package of ineffable charm. He needed all those qualities, earlier this week, when addressing the media at the Rendezvous, at Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba, Mumbai, ahead of the release of his latest film The Happening. The assembled media, over 50-strong, peppered him with questions on the order of What Hindi films have you seen? Which Hindi actor do you think can make it in Hollywood? Will you cast an Indian actor? Night, which is how he is generally known [File this moment away as a rarity: It is not often the writer-director is lost for words, but he was visibly shaken when one journalist asked him if he was formerly known as Manoj Shyamalan Nair -- you know, the Kerala surname, the journo added helpfully] has a knack for turning the most trivial question into an excuse to think aloud. A typical example occurred when he was asked what he thought of Indian cinema.