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Merchant's World
Filmmaker Ismail Merchant has a rags-to-riches story in The Mystic Masseur
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Deepali Nandwani
Ismail Merchant is making up for lost time.
The director-producer and other half of the well-known Merchant Ivory Productions, who have been making films for nearly 40, has not had a single release in India for the last five years. Now, he has three projects on hand.
The first, Mystic Masseur will soon be released. There is also a
film on Rabindranath Tagore, with the title role being enacted by Satyajit Ray's favourite hero, Soumitra Chatterjee.
Merchant is also working on a book, Merchant's India, which captures the sights, sounds and smells of the India he knows and loves.
At the moment, however, the filmmaker is catching up on latest Hindi films. "I am reacquainting myself with contemporary Indian cinema. If Bollywood comes up with some strong stories and good music, like Aamir Khan's Lagaan, they will do extremely well abroad."
Fascinated by Ashutosh Gowariker's Oscar-nominated Lagaan, he is all
praise for the film. "Aamir Khan is perfect," he says.
"I also saw Karan Johar's Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham in London. Kajol is so spontaneous, so is Shah Rukh Khan. I also thought Ajay Devgan was very good in The Legend Of Bhagat Singh."
Merchant has never been able to cut the umbilical ties with his home country. Whether it was The Householder and Shakespearewallah of the sixties or The Mystic Masseur, based on Sir Vidia Naipaul's novel of the same name.
The film chronicles the life and times of Ganesh Ransumair. It is a tale about the Indian community in exile in Trinidad of the 1940s, told through the story of Ganesh, a man who attends Britain's Oxford University, and has an intense desire to make it big as a writer. He is encouraged by an enthusiastic aunt, but after his father's death, is pressured into marrying
a headstrong and ambitious girl Leela, who is backed by her wily father.
Ganesh sets up a masseur shop to earn money, and earns the reputation of an expert in Hinduism and healing. His fame helps the sale of his first book on Hindu faith. He stands for elections, but soon becomes disillusioned with his newfound fame and power, which he believes is robbing him of his values.
Says Merchant, "It made a beautiful rags-to-riches story. Ganesh's emotional journey was most interesting for me. He is a global character, a man that any national in the world can identify with. I was in stitches when I read the novel and extremely taken with the characters."
It wasn't an easy task to get Naipaul's permission to adapt the book into a feature film. Merchant and his partner, James Ivory --- the other half of the sangam as the producer likes to call his production company --- were strung along by Naipaul's American agent for a year. "Ultimately," he recalls, "I wrote to Sir Vidia. I told him that I
have just finished making In Custody and would like to see him about permission to make The Mystic Masseur into a film."
The author wrote back to Merchant saying that he should not bother to come down and see him: "I know your persuasive power is legendary. You have the right to make the film."
Apparently, stories about his charming ways had already reached Naipaul.
Merchant, who has directed a couple of films in his long career, decided to direct this one instead of producing it. "I have several reasons why I direct a film. I directed In Custody (based on the novel by Anita
Desai, starring Shashi Kapoor, was made with Bhopal as the backdrop), because I loved the poetry and the language, Urdu.
"This book interested me, too. And then I had such an eclectic cast to work with --- Ayesha Dharker who was amazingly different in The Terrorist. Om Puri with whom I was working again. Aasif Mandvi, whom I saw in a play Sakina's Restaurant, and whose work I enjoyed. Zohra Sehgal as the aunt, who has given a wonderful performance."
Ismail's second feature, The Proprietor, starred Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Pierre Aument and Christopher Cazenovo.
The fate of The Mystic Masseur remains to be seen, but the goodwill of Merchant Ivory Productions precedes them. Their repertoire includes films like Heat And Dust, A Room With A View, Mr & Mrs Bridge, Howard's End, and The Remains Of The Day.
Even as Merchant prepares for the release of The Mystic Masseur, there is another project he is working on: a film on Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. He says, "It's on Tagore's relationship with French
legend Romain Rolland, a historical drama set against the Europe of the 1920s and 30s. It's a beautiful story about two legends and their interaction."
Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee will play the role of Tagore.
The film is being researched by Catherine Berge, who directed Soumitra in Gaach three years ago, and Caryl Philips, who wrote the screenplay of The Mystic Masseur.
Says Merchant, "I read a profile on Chatterjee, and found him interesting. He also resembles Tagore. I can't tell you more because nothing else has been concretised. We are still in the research stage."
Besides this, there is the French movie Le Divorce, directed by James Ivory, which is on the editing table.
Then there is Merchant's India "It's on the lines of my earlier book on Florence," Merchant reveals. "It begins with my childhood in Mumbai, the years I spent watching films, my fascination for actress Nimmi, the
influence of Raj Kapoor's cinema on me, my relationship with Shashi Kapoor, James and Ruth Praver-Jhabwala, right up to my filmmaking years in New York, interspersed with my memories of India and interaction with people here."
It's been almost five years now since any of Merchant Ivory films have been seen in India, or had a commercial release here. "The book is my way of renewing my ties with India," Merchant stresses.
India News Feature Service