Filmmaker Ismail Merchant, 68, passed away at 4.30 pm Wednesday at a hospital in London, surrounded by friends and family. He was unmarried, and had no children.
His brother-in-law Waheed Chauhan told rediff.com that Merchant's ulcer burst, causing his death. Merchant had recently undergone surgery for abdominal ulcers. "His body will be brought to Mumbai in about two days for the cremation," Chauhan added.
Merchant-Ivory Productions, which Merchant co-founded with filmmaker James Ivory, announced the death with a black-hued note on its website.
'It is with great sadness that Merchant Ivory Productions (MIP) announces that Ismail Merchant, our company founder and beloved producer for more than 44 years, has passed away after a brief illness in a London hospital,' the company said in a statement.
Merchant was born in Mumbai on Christmas day (December 25, 1936). In 1958, he traveled to the US to study business at New York University, but was soon sidetracked into the film world.
Merchant first made a short film, The Creation of Woman, which was an official US entry in the Cannes Film Festival in 1961, and also earned an Academy Award nomination that year.
It was while en route to Cannes that Merchant met James Ivory; the meeting led to the formation of Merchant Ivory Productions, with the stated goal of making English-language films in India for the international market
He famously met filmmaker James Ivory in a New York coffee shop; that meeting resulted in the founding of Merchant Ivory Productions (MIP)
The stated objective was to make 'English-language films in India aimed at the international market'. The duo subsequently went on to make period and contemporary films set in England and America.
In 1963, MIP premiered its first production, The Householder, starring Bollywood matinee idol Shashi Kapoor. Merchant and Ivory, in tandem with screenwriter Ruth Praver-Jhabvala, made close to 40 films together (Click here for full ), winning Oscars for such efforts as the EM Forster adaptation A Room With A View and Howard's End (three Oscars apiece).
The two went on to earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history.
Merchant's other love was cuisine; he is the author of numerous books on cooking, including Ismail Merchant's Indian Cooking and Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals. Besides books on the making of films he has also written books on the making of films such as The Deceivers and The Proprietor. His most recent book is My Passage From India: A Filmmaker's Jurney from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond
Merchant has been honored with the Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Bard's College, New York. For his outstanding contribution to cinema, he was given the title of Commandeur de l/Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture.
At the time of his death, Merchant was working on The White Countess, a period drama starring Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson, and set in China.
MIP was also working on The Goddess, a musical about the Hindu goddess Shakti, starring pop icon Tina Turner and with a script by Maximum City author Suketu Mehta.
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