Ismail Merchant - Biography, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Filmography (Read)

Ismail Merchant - biography, date of birth, place of birth, filmography, clips, Producer, Director, Actor, Writer.

December 25, 1936, Bombay, India - May 25, 2005, London, England, UK - British film director and film producer of Indian descent.

He grew up in a bilingual environment, knowing Gujarati and Urdu from an early age, later studying Arabic and English at school. As a 9-year-old child, Ismail gave an emotional speech about partitioning India at a political rally in front of a crowd of 10,000. When he was 11 years old, India gained independence from Great Britain and was divided into two states, the Indian Union and the Dominion of Pakistan. Ismail's father was president of the Bombay branch of the Muslim League, but refused to move to Pakistan. Merchant later revealed that he carried the memories of "riots and riots" into adulthood.

Ismail met his first mentor in 1949; through family ties, at the age of 13, he met and became friends with twenty-year-old Indian film actress Nimmy, who, in turn, introduced him to the film studios of Bombay, the main center of the Indian film industry. It was she who inspired him to build a career in cinema. After graduating from high school, Ismail entered the College of Saint Xavier in Bombay and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Bombay. It was here that he developed his love for cinema. When Ismail was 22 years old, he left for the United States, where he received an MBA from New York University. While living in America, Ismail worked as a courier for the UN and used this job to convince Indian delegates to fund his film projects. Immersed in the world of art and culture, Merchant discovered films by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, as well as European masters such as Ingmar Bergman, Vittorio de Sica and Federico Fellini. In 1960, Ismail took part in the filming of the short film The Creation of Woman, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

In 1959, an event took place that predetermined the future life of Ismail. On the set of the documentary The Sword and the Flute in New York, he met director James Ivory. Already in May 1961, they created their own film company, Merchant Ivory Productions. Merchant and Ivory became long-term partners. Their professional and romantic partnership lasted 44 years, from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005, and entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running partnership in independent film history. Before Merchant's death, they released about 40 films, some of which were awarded prestigious film awards. More than 20 of their films were scripted by Anglo-American writer Ruth Praver Jabwala, the only person in the world to win an Oscar. and Booker.

In 1963, Merchant and Ivory presented their first film, The Master of the House, based on the novel by Praver Jabwala (she also wrote the screenplay). It was the first Indian film to be distributed internationally by the American film giant Columbia Pictures. However, it was not until the 1970s that the partners achieved recognition with the release of The Europeans, based on the novel by Henry James, which Jabwala adapted.

In addition to producing, Merchant has directed several films himself, including two television films.

Merchant loved cooking and wrote several books on the art of cooking and filmmaking.

In 2002, the Merchant was awarded the third highest civilian award in India - Padma Bhushan. He is also a recipient of the New York International Center for Excellence Award.

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Author: Jane Watson