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.
Well, I am from India and I wanted to make films in English for the international market in India. So that was really the main thing, and then of course economically it was cheaper to make films in India.
Ismail Merchant
Early Life
Ismail Merchant was born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman on December 25, 1936, in Bombay. His father, Noor Mohamed Rehman, was a textile dealer, and his mother, Hazra, was a homemaker. Merchant grew up trilingual, speaking Gujarati, Memoni, and Urdu, and later learnt Arabic and English at school. Young Ismail witnessed the tumultuous events of the 1947 partition of India, which left a lasting impression on him. Although he witnessed modern India’s most politically charged and chaotic period, he always found solace in pop culture and entertainment.
He became friends with yesteryear actor Nimmi at a very young age. Nimmi introduced him to the world of film and theatre. Soon, Merchant developed a passion for cinema, particularly the works of Satyajit Ray and European filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman, Vittorio De Sica, and Federico Fellini.
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. During his time in New York, Merchant worked as a messenger for the United Nations. He used this opportunity to persuade Indian delegates to fund his film projects.
Ismail Merchant Met James Ivory
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 cinema and founded Merchant Ivory Productions in 1961, with the aim of making English-language theatrical features in India for the international market. The third person on their team was screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who wrote most of their films.
The Merchant and Ivory partnership lasted over 44 years until Merchant’s death in 2005. It was declared the longest partnership in independent cinema history by The Guinness Book of World Records. .
In 1961, Merchant made his first short film, “The Creation of Woman.” The film screened at the Cannes Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination. Merchant Ivory Productions became synonymous with high-quality, critically acclaimed films that often explored themes of cultural clash, identity, and social change.
Merchant Ivory Productions
The first feature-length film by Merchant Ivory Productions was The Householder (1963), based on a novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film, starring Shashi Kapoor, Leela Naidu, and Durga Khote, tells the story of a newly married couple who find it difficult to cope with the interference of the man’s mother.
Their next, “Shakespeare Wallah (1965),” tells the story of a troupe of English actors performing Shakespeare plays in post-colonial India. The film received immense critical acclaim and won several awards. Some of their most notable films include The Guru (1969), Bombay Talkie (1970), Savages (1973), Heat and Dust (1983), A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Jefferson in Paris (1995), Surviving Picasso (1996), The Golden Bowl (2000), The Mystic Masseur (2001), and many more.
The film adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel “Howards End (1992)” won three Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Emma Thompson. The next was “The Remains of the Day (1993),” starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox and Christopher Reeve. The film, a adaption of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, received eight Academy Award nominations. It is widely considered one of Merchant Ivory’s finest works.
The Legandary Career
Under the Merchant Ivory banner, the duo produced and directed over 50 films, which earned them at least 31 Oscar nominations and six Oscars.
In addition to producing, Ismail Merchant directed several films and television features, including “Mahatma and the Mad Boy (1974, short), “The Courtesans of Bombay (1983),” “The Proprietor (1996),” “Cotton Mary (1999),” and “The Mystic Masseur (2001),” which was based on V.S. Naipaul’s novel.
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!
Ismail Merchant Of his partnership with Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
In 1994 he directed “In Custody (1994),” based on a novel by Anita Desai and starring Shahi Kapoor, Om Puri, and Shabana Azmi. The film won National Awards from the Government of India for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costume, and Best Production Design. “In Custody” is also notable for the use of the poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Ismalil Merchant’s last film as a producer was “The White Countess (2005),'” before his death. Set in 1930s Shanghai the film starred Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson.
Ismail Merchent received four Academy 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 get a nominationfor 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.
Personal Life and Legacy
Merchant died in Westminster, England, aged 68, on the 25th of May, 2005, following surgery for abdominal ulcers. He was laid to rest in Bada Qabrastan, Mumbai, in Marine Lines, Mumbai, India.
Ismail Merchant’s contributions to cinema are immense. His ability to blend the best of East and West in modern cinema, along with his keen eye for storytelling and visual beauty, has left a lasting impact on the film industry. Merchant Ivory’s films continue to be celebrated for their artistic excellence and cultural significance.
Ismail Merchant on IMDB
