Activities : Executive Producer, Director
Date of decease : 25/05/2005

A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (1999), from James Ivory
The Proprietor (1996), from Ismail Merchant
Jefferson in Paris (1993), from James Ivory

Complete filmography

Born in Bombay, Ismail Merchant is an MBA graduate from the University of New York. In 1961, he directed the highly acclaimed short film, "The Creation of Woman," that was mentioned at the Academy Awards and presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection. It was at Cannes the same year that Ismail Merchant and James Ivory made the decision to join forces and produce English-language films in India, aimed at the international market. Thus Merchant Ivory Productions was founded, a company that has produced numerous hit films directed by James Ivory. Merchant’s first feature film, "In Custody" (1994), shot in Bhopal, won the awards for Best Film, Best Actor (for Shashi Kapoor), Best Production Design and Best Costume Design at the Indian National Film Awards.