Ismail Merchant is supposed to be a producer of beguiling films, but now he has transformed himself into a writer. The lines he writes would be the envy of any novelist: he is incapable of writing one that is dull, slack or lifeless. The story of his life is the stuff of fiction but no fiction writer could have imagined or written it." -- Anita Desai the author made the statement on Ismail Merchant. Ismail Merchant is best known for his award-winning films produced with director James Ivory - `Heat and Dust`, `A Room with a View`, `Howards End`, `The Remains of the Day to name just a few`, Regarded as one of the world`s leading producers of Independent Films. When he`s not making films set in America and Europe, he`s making movies in his native India. He has produced over 40 films and has won six Oscars.

Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer was born on 25th December 1936 in Mumbai. Ismail Merchant, Son of Hazra Memon and Noormohamed Haji Abdul Rehman was born as Ismail Noormohamed Abdul Rehman. He passed away on 25th May 2005 at the age of 68 and was unmarried. He was buried in the Bada Kabrestan in Marine Lines, Mumbai, on 28 May 2005, in keeping with his wish to be laid to rest with his ancestors.

He studied at St. Xavier`s College, Bombay. When he was 22, he traveled to the United States to study at New York University, where he earned an M.B.A. Born in Bombay, Ismail Merchant has lived and worked for most of his life in the West. He is best known for his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Merchant`s first film "The Creation of Woman" was a theatrical short, which was nominated in 1961 for an Academy Award and was an official entry from the United States in the Cannes Film Festival that same year.

In 1961 `Merchant Ivory Productions` the film production company with James Ivory was created by Ismail Merchant to make English-language theatrical features in India for the international market. Until Merchant`s death in 2005, the company produced a number of award winning films. Their partnership has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history. Ivory has been the life partner of Ismail Merchant.Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for most of their productions. They made close to 40 films together.

The opportunity to finance his films with the frizen rupee account funds of major American distributors attracted Merchant to begin making his films in India. "The Householder" was Merchant and Ivory`s first film and the first Indian film to be distributed worldwide by a major American company, Columbia Pictures. "The Householder" is a comedy that revolves around Prem (Shashi Kapoor), a young teacher at a boys` college who has been married to the beautiful but retiring Indu (Leela Naidu). Little more than a boy himself, at least in the face of his imperious, impossible mother (Durga Khote), Prem struggles with the burden of his responsibilities as a husband and, when Indu becomes pregnant, with his impending duties as a father.

In addition to producing, Merchant has directed a number of films and two television features. He directed a short feature named "Mahatma and the Mad Boy" for television and a full-length television feature "The Courtesans of Bombay". It was made for Britain`s Channel Four. It was followed by more Indian features, including "Shakespeare Wallah" (1965), "The Guru" (1969), and "Bombay Talkie" (1970). Merchant made his own directorial debut with "In Custody" based on a novel by Anita Desai in 1993. It was starring Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor. It was filmed in Bhopal, India, and went on to win National Awards from the Government of India for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costume and Best Production Design. His second directing feature, "The Proprietor," starred Jeanne Moreau, Sean Young, Jean-Pierre Aumont and Christopher Cazenove and was filmed on location in Paris.

Merchant`s third feature film as Director, "Cotton Mary", was set in Kerala, India. The film tells the tale of an Anglo-Indian nurse in search of her identity in Post-Colonial India. The film has been described as the finest example of Merchant`s ability to combine the best of East and West in modern cinema. The Fortieth Anniversary of Merchant`s career in film production marked by the American release of "The Golden Bowl" in April 2001. "The Mystic Masseur", based on the novel by V.S. Naipaul, is Merchant`s latest work as Director was released in the spring of 2002 and was described by the New York Times as "a subtle, humorous, illuminating study of politics, power and social mobility."

For over thirty years, Merchant Ivory Productions has endured as one of the most productive collaborations in cinema, bringing forth such films as "The Europeans", "Quartet", "Heat and Dust", "A Room With a View", "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge", "Howards End", "The Remains of the Day", "Jefferson in Paris" and "Surviving Picasso".

In addition to numerous accolades Merchant has won in the world of film, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002. He is also an Honorary Doctor of Arts at Bard`s College, New York, Wesleyan College and the University of Illinois. He has been honored by the Mayor of New York and the Maire de Paris, and received the title of "Commandeur de l`Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" from the Ministry of Culture in France for his outstanding contribution to cinema.

Ismail Merchant is also a renowned chef and wrote many books on cooking. A number of books on cuisine including "Ismail Merchant`s Indian Cuisine", "Ismail Merchant`s Florence", "Ismail Merchant`s Passionate Meals" and "Ismail Merchant`s Paris: Filming and Feasting in France". In addition, he authored a book about the making of the film "The Deceivers" in 1988 called Hullabaloo in Old Jeypur, and another about the making of "The Proprietor" called Once Upon a Time . . . The Proprietor. His most recent book is entitled, "My Passage From India: A Filmmaker`s Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and beyond".

From the best-selling novel by Diane Johnson "Le Divorce" has been the latest Merchant Ivory Production film. The film adapted for the screen by Merchant Ivory`s longtime collaborator, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and stars Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Glenn Close, Stockard Channing, Matthew Modine, Sam Waterston and Leslie Caron and is expected to be released this summer by Fox Searchlight.