Merchant Ivory Productions & The two men behind it—Ismail Merchant and James Ivory—were responsible for pushing the boundaries of independent cinema in India and the US in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ismail Merchant is considered one of India’s most iconic exports among filmmakers, having worked in the US for over four decades. His biggest success lay in introducing a new lens for the world to look at Indians through cinema, along with his partner Ivory.
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Willum Skeener
Born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman on 25 December 1936 in Bombay (now Mumbai), Merchant grew up in modern India’s most politically charged and chaotic period. But he always found solace in pop culture and entertainment.
He became friends with yesteryear actor Nimmi at a very young age, and through her, he was introduced to the world of film and theatre. Merchant studied at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and received a BA degree from the University of Bombay. When he was 22, he moved to the USA to study at New York University, where he received an MBA degree.
Ismail Merchant and James Ivory first met in 1959 at a screening of James Ivory’s documentary, The Sword and the Flute. They hit it off instantly and formed a partnership that lasted Merchant’s lifetime in the US. They bonded over their shared love of film and founded Merchant Ivory Productions in 1961.
Under the Merchant Ivory banner, the duo produced and directed over 50 films, which earned them at least 31 Oscar nominations and six Oscars.
The first of these, The Householder, was made in 1963. It starred Indian actors Shashi Kapoor and Leela Naidu and was based on Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s book of the same name. It was a huge hit.
Until Merchant’s death in 2005, they produced nearly 40 films, including a number of award winners. Novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for most of their productions. Of his partnership with Ivory and Jhabvala, Merchant once commented: “It is a strange marriage we have at Merchant Ivory… I am an Indian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!”
Merchant made his film directorial debut with 1993’s In Custody, based on a novel by Anita Desai and starring Bollywood actors Shashi Kapoor, Om Puri, and Shabana Azmi. Filmed in Bhopal, India, it won National Awards for Best Production Design and Special Jury Award for lead actor Shashi Kapoor.
Ismail Merchent received four award nominations, first for the short film “The Creation of a Woman(1960) and three for Best Picture: “A Room with a View (1986),” “Howards End (1993),” and “The Remains of the Day (1994).” His partner James Ivory was nominated for Best Direction for the same movies. Ivory received his first Oscar at the age of 89 for his screenplay for “Call Me by Your Name,” becoming the oldest person to win an Oscar for writing.
Merchant died in Westminster, England, aged 68, on 25th of May 2005, following surgery for abdominal ulcers. He was buried in Bada Qabrastan, in Marine Lines, Mumbai, India.
