M Night Shyamalan, who has been in the movie business for about 30 years now, has worked hard to do what feels right to him. He’s never given in to criticism and business pressures and has always tried to push the boundaries in genres like horror and science fiction. Known for films like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village and Signs, Shyamalan is now gearing up for the release of Old, a thriller set on a beach, which is beautiful, but has an eerie quality to it. In a chat with BT, the filmmaker talks about his fascination with the supernatural genre, the way he finds flexibility within that space and how he is vulnerable as an artiste. Excerpts:

I spend all my time thinking about stories and being drawn to ideas. They do sometimes find me. Old stems from a graphic novel that my daughters gave me for Father’s Day three years ago. When I read the premise about time moving fast on this beach, I thought this was a powerful engine.

I always look for an unusual villain, something that’s not normal, like a guy chasing you with a knife. Even if that is the case, it’s set against time running out speedily. Of course, it can’t be just that. Also, my daughters are deep thinkers, well-read and thoughtful women. They are drawn to complex premises and they know that I read a lot. They always try to look for books for me that have these complicated things at the centre. When I think about stories, I look for something that has a thoughtful resonance, has the genre elements to hold the audience and offers a lot to think about years later.

The average budget of a summer hit — a franchise film or a superhero adventure — would be 10 times the budget of my movie. Keeping the budget low helps me take those risks with my stories. I can be provocative, dark and shocking in my own way. There is so much to deal with when the budgets are high. I don’t want to think that I can’t do certain things in my movies because that might turn away consumers. Ironically, everything I do is for the consumer and to serve that differentiated platter, I need a responsible budget. The idea is to make a film with as tight a budget as possible so that it makes ample money for us, is provocative and novel. Eventually, the audience knows what they are seeing is interesting and refreshing.

It’s an interesting paradox. I feel close to India. My parents are rooted deeply in the culture, while my wife, kids and I have an American side to our lives. My mom and dad want to feed me Indian desserts and pooris every day. That’s just one of the many things that are very Indian in my everyday life. Having said that, I want to make one of my movies, or at least a part of it, in India. I hope that will happen soon.

It’s a combination for an artiste. I don’t want it, but I keep inviting it for my work. Any artiste, filmmaker, painter... you name it, if we are not being vulnerable, we might end up doing the same thing over and over again. Initially, when you bring in something new, you will always hear that this does not work. And when it does, everyone wants the same thing. It’s important for me to not concentrate on criticism and talk. Emily Bronte died thinking she was a failure, and after she passed away, people milked Wuthering Heights. The social mores at that time may not fit you, but you are a part of changing it. With an art form at hand, you keep shifting it. The relationship between social acceptance and the art form is fascinating; it’s not easy. The independent and thoughtful films, and the blockbusters... I try to create a mix of both. Today, I feel I have an incredibly lucky career. The only thing that matters is the teeth of the movie or the artwork you create. Everyone senses it when it’s there. People can see it in the framing, the performances and the new influences.

It’s an echo chamber of emotions. The characters become like real human beings to you in that time and their dreams are important to you. They become real, momentarily. That starts bouncing back to your life and having its effects on you. I don’t recognise the person who made Unbreakable back in the day. I am changing as a person with every film. When I refer to the diary I wrote at that time, it tells me about the person I was when I made the film. My movies show who I really am at that time.

I find a lot of flexibility in this genre. There are times I have met people and they’ve said that they can’t see the movies I make; my movies scare them. I wonder if Unbreakable was a horror? Lady In The Waters was a children’s fantasy, while The Village was a mystery. I don’t even know how it happened. I’ve written romantic comedies and a film like Stuart Little at the beginning of my career, along with The Sixth Sense and other things. And yet, I am the horror-movie guy. How did it happen? There’s a misconception about what I like and what I do. I push the boundaries with the traditional genre, but it’s not like this is the only thing I do.

They will never be critical of my movies; that’s not how it is here. They are gracious about the movies I have made. You have to ask them what they’ve really liked, but from what I gauge, they like the complexities, the genre and the tones of the stories. The older two of my girls are artistes. They believe that I must lead the way in what I do; I must find a new seat instead of looking for a seat at an existing table. They like me to challenge things. Currently, Old is their most favourite work coming from me.