http://www.asiasource.org/arts/merchant.cfm
An Interview with Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant is the producer of some of the most critically acclaimed films in the history of cinema, including A Room with a View, Howard’s End, and The Remains of the Day. Born in Bombay, Ismail Merchant has worked in the U.S. for most of his life. After a chance Video Clips of the Interview with Ismail Merchant
Influence of Ray
Success of Partnership
Connecting Theme
Download RealPlayer
meeting with James Ivory at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, the two young filmmakers formed Merchant Ivory Productions in hopes of making English-language feature films in India for the international market. Their forty-year partnership has been one of the most prolific in cinema, resulting in the creation of forty-six films and several television features. In addition to being one of the most successful producers in independent cinema, Mr. Merchant has also directed several feature films, including In Custody and The Proprietor. The most recent Merchant Ivory release, The Golden Bowl, is based on a Henry James novel and is currently showing at theaters throughout the U.S. The Los Angeles Times calls it "yet another Merchant Ivory triumph, with impeccable performances and equally flawless, grand period settings.”
What I thought was interesting about In Custody was that it portrayed Urdu as this dying language that is being subsumed by Hindi. My impression is that the two languages, Hindi and Urdu, are becoming more and more distinct since Partition and that new vocabulary is being added to divide the two languages even further for political purposes. Do you think Urdu is dying out?
Urdu can not die out because it has very strong roots in Persia. The language itself is not only just the language of the Muslims, but it’s also the language of the Hindus. It’s more promoted by the Hindus. If you look at the popular Hindi films, all the songs are written in Urdu.
You would call that Urdu and not Hindustani?
It’s Urdu actually. A few words of Hindi appear here or there, but it’s all Urdu. I feel that if the popular culture, which is what Hindi films are, uses Urdu, it’s not going to diminish.