M. Night Shyamalan's 3 Daughters: All About Saleka, Ishana and Shivani

Mar. 15, 2025

M. Night Shyamalan with his daughters and wife.Photo:John Nacion/FilmMagic

John Nacion/FilmMagic

M. Night Shyamalan’s daughters are entertainers in their own right.

The critically acclaimed filmmaker and his wife Bhavna Vaswani areparents to three daughters, Saleka, Ishana and Shivani. His family has supported him throughout his career, and his work has clearly inspired them in their own professional pursuits.

As his daughters have gotten older, Shyamalan has made his business a family one, enlisting them to work on his projects in the filmmaking and music arenas.

His middle daughter Ishana is a filmmaker like her dad, who made her directorial debut with the horror filmThe Watchers. Meanwhile, his eldest daughter Saleka is a musician who has provided music for her dad’s films, recently starring in his horror filmTrap.

Additionally, being a father has heavily influenced Shyamalan’s scripts. “I’m a girl dad with three girls, and it’s just the way I see things,” he toldScreen Rantwhile promotingTrap. “I see the world through their eyes. My fear of the world is for them; protecting them or overprotecting them, and then wanting them to look up to me and be proud of the things that I say and do.”

Here’s everything to know about M. Night Shyamalan’s daughters and how he’s worked with them through the years.

Saleka Shyamalan, 28

Saleka at the premiere of Trap.Cindy Ord/WireImage

Cindy Ord/WireImage

Saleka Shyamalan, known professionally as Saleka, is Shyamalan’s oldest child whom he welcomed in August 1996. While Saleka watched many horror movies with her father growing up, she ended up developing a passion for music at a young age.

“I studied classical piano very seriously and was prepping to be a concert pianist and study at a conservatory,” she toldThe Hollywood Reporterof her early career as a musician. “But then, when I was 16, I started feeling a desire to write and compose for myself and to use a different type of creativity, so I shifted my path.”

After releasing her first single “Clarity” in September 2020, she released her debut albumSéancein 2022. Additionally, her music has been featured in several of her father’s projects, includingServantandOld.

Speaking withPSin 2021, she talked aboutwriting “Remain” forOldat her father’s request.“He gave me the script to read and told me that one of the characters in it sings a song, and he wanted me to write it,” she said. “The script was such a masterpiece, suspenseful, emotional, chilling, there was so much to draw from artistically.”

“This was one of my favorite songs to write because the script ofOldwas the most inspiring prompt I could ever ask for,” she continued. “We talk about film, music, [and] art a lot in my family, and often help each other with ideas for projects we are working on. So collaboration with my dad actually felt very natural.”

Saleka performing on stage in August 2024.Pablo Cuadra/Redferns/Getty

Pablo Cuadra/Redferns/Getty

In August 2024,Saleka made her acting debutin her father’s filmTrap, in which she plays a pop star named Lady Raven. Additionally, she wrote 14 songs for the film which are featured onLady Raven (Original Music from the Motion Picture Trap), includingone track with Kid Cudi.

For the role, Saleka told PEOPLEshe channeled Taylor Swift, noting how she’s such a global icon. “She’s not just a singer and an entertainer you see on stage, she’s a boss,” she explained. “So I think we thought a lot about that.”

Ishana Shyamalan, 24

Ishana Night Shyamalan at the premiere of The Watchers.Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images

Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images

Ishana Shyamalan, known professionally as Ishana Night Shyamalan, is Shyamalan’s second childborn in November 1999. Speaking with PEOPLE about the25th anniversary ofThe Sixth Sense, Shyamalan noted that the film is dear to his heart as it was released right before he welcomed Ishana. “I was close to her age when I wroteSixth Sense,” he said of Ishana. She noted that her mother was pregnant with her when she attended the red carpet premiere in August 1999.

Ishana has directly followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a filmmaker in her own right. Speaking withVarietyin 2021, she noted that she developed a passion for horror movies early on, at the movie nights her dad hosted.

“From the time I was able to watch a movie, we were watching horror movies,” she told the publication. “I remember in my elementary school in the library, I would come in every time and they would say, ‘We have a new scary story for you.’ I formed a sense of identity based on that when I was pretty young.”

During a joint interview withThe New York Times, Shyamalan recalled witnessing Ishana’s passion for movies early on, though he let her find her own way in the movie industry. “I knew she would be a filmmaker, but I never pushed her into it,” he told the publication. “We’d watch a movie and she would really connect with what we were watching. She was able to discern what was exceptional about what we had watched.”

In addition to directing a handful of her sister Saleka’s music videos, she has regularly teamed up with her father on projects. Notably, she served as the second unit director for his filmsOldandKnock at the Cabinand wrote and directed several episodes of his seriesServant.

Speaking with PEOPLE about the series, Shyamalan said Isana “grew into” the show’s “main director and main writer” in season 2. “That I didn’t expect, that she would direct more episodes than anybody including me, and she would write more episodes,” he said. “It was astonishing. We ended up relying on her.”

Ishana Night Shyamalan at a screening of The Watchers.Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

“He said at the very beginning, he was like, ‘If you have any question that this is what you wanna do, don’t do it. It’s hard, and you need to be sure that you can’t survive without it,'” she said, noting she “always took that very seriously.”

“Your presence in my life is more impactful than you could know,” Ishana said to her dad in the audience. “And because you have paved the path with such grace and fierceness, I get to do what I love.”

Shivani Shyamalan, 19

Shivani Shyamalan, Ishana Shyamalan, Bhavna Vaswani, M. Night Shyamalan and Saleka at the season 4 premiere of Servant.Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images

Shivani Shyamalan is Shyamalan’s youngest daughter, who was born in September 2004. Though Shivani leads a more private life than her older sisters, she has supported her dad and sisters at many premieres through the years, with one of her first red carpets being in 2013 for theAfter Earthpremiere.

Additionally, Shivani’s mom has given occasional glimpses of their family life. For Shivani’s 16th birthday in 2020,Bhavna wrote a sweet tributeto her youngest sharing a number of throwback photos and videos of her.

M. Night Shyamalan with his family at the After Earth premiere in 2013.Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jim Spellman/WireImage

“Shivi you are a rare being; feeling, thinking, compassionate, cool, easy in your skin, funny, sharp, loyal, thoughtful and beyond your years,” she wrote in the caption. “You have taught me so much and push me to be a better mom, and better person. You have so much to offer the world. I love you so very very much and I’m so proud of who you are becoming.”

On Mother’s Day in May 2024, she postedanother tribute to her girls, noting she was “so proud” of the women they were becoming. “In admiration of these three, who they are, who they are becoming, their talents, their courage & resilience, their hearts, their compassion, and the secure bond they nurture between themselves,” she wrote. “Profoundly grateful to be their mom.”

source: people.com