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Ismail Merchant ( December 25 , 1936 – May 25 , 2005 ) was an India n-born Film Producer , best known for the results of his long Collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included Director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala . Their films won six Academy Awards . Ivory was also Merchant's long-term Gay partner {Link without Title} . BACKGROUND Born Ismail Noormohamed Abdul Reh, he was the son of Hazra and Noormohamed Haji Abdul Reh, a to study at New York University , where he earned a M.B.A. . In 1961 , he made a short film, ''The Creation of Woman''. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and also received an Academy Award nomination. MERCHANT IVORY PRODUCTIONS In 1961, Merchant created the film production company, '' Merchant Ivory Productions '', with James Ivory . Until Merchant's death in 2005, the company produced a number of award winning films. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for most of their productions. They made close to 40 films together. Their partnership has a place in the Guinness Book Of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history. In 1963 , MIP premiered its first production, ''The Householder'', based upon a novel by Jhabvala (she also wrote the screenplay). This feature became the first Indian-made film to be distributed internationally by a major American studio, Columbia Pictures . In addition to producing, Merchant has directed a number of films and two television features. For television, he directed a short feature entitled ''Mahatma and the Mad Boy'', and a full-length television feature, ''The Courtesans of Bombay'' made for Britain’s Channel Four . Merchant made his own directorial debut with 1993 's ''In Custody'' based on a novel by Anita Desai , and 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 , Jean-Pierre Aumond and Christopher Cazenove and was filmed on location in Paris. Of his partnership with Ivory and Jhabvala, Merchant once commented: "IT IS a strange marriage we have at Merchant Ivory...I am an Indian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!" {Link without Title} . COOKING Fond of cooking, he wrote several books on the art 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''. He also wrote books on film-making, including 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''. AWARDS In 2002 , he was awarded the Padma Bhushan . DEATH Merchant died in London . He was buried in the Bada Kabrestan in Marine Lines , Mumbai on May 28 , 2005 in keeping with his wishes of resting with his ancestors. FILMOGRAPHY
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