While 1965's Shakespeare Wallah increase this genre on the international map, its heyday was the 1980s and 1990s with such(a) films as A Room with a View 1985 and Howards End 1992. His last book was entitled My Passage from India: A Filmmaker's Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond.[11]. Ivory would be creative director on the films' restoration, re-release and promotion.[6]. Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures, "The Wandering Company: Merchant-Ivory Productions and Post-Colonial Cinema", "Merchant-Ivory's final film a refined delight. The initial goal of the agency was "to have English-language films in India aimed at a international market." ✪ In Custody -1993 Urdu/Hindi film (English Subtitles). Compiled works from Merchant Ivory Productions. Merchant Ivory Productions was founded in 1961 by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory in India to produce English language films.

He was involved in every project in various positions thereafter.

The leading theme often surrounded a house, which took on a particular importance in numerous Merchant Ivory films.
Merchant and Ivory were long-term life partners. A typical "Merchant–Ivory film" would be a period piece set in the early 20th century, usually in Edwardian England, featuring lavish sets and top British actors portraying genteel characters who suffer from disillusionment and tragic entanglements. He received three Oscar nominations for his work with Merchant Ivory but never won. For TV, he directed a short feature entitled Mahatma and the Mad Boy, and a full-length feature, The Courtesans of Bombay, made for Britain's Channel Four.

a films were for the most part reported by Merchant & directed by Ivory, and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1927–2013 in some capacity. He received his number one Academy Award at the age of 89 for his screenplay for Call Me by Your Name, becoming the oldest adult to win an Academy Award for writing. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala became their frequent collaborating writer. perhaps possibly they should have dubbed us a three-headed monster!". Merchant moreover to Ivory were life and combine partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. In 1994, he started running the company with Ismail Merchant and left the company in 2009 after completion of The City of Your Final Destination. Despite receiving four Oscar nominations, he never won. [12] 1928). [8] Their first success in this style was Jhabvala's adaptation of Henry James's The Europeans. "[2] Immersed in a new world of art and culture, it was here that Merchant discovered films of Bengali Director Satyajit Ray, as well as those of European artists such as Ingmar Bergman, Vittorio De Sica, and Federico Fellini. In 2002 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India. Major film studio sought them out with Disney signing Merchant Ivory Productions in 1991 to a three year distribution deal. The more modestly scaled, and the first to be released (in January 1983), was the 73-minute documentary (or "docudrama," as Merchant refers to it) The Courtesans of Bombay, which was both The company also went on to make films in the United Kingdom and America. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination. It was here he developed a love for movies. [clarification needed] Consequently, at the age of 13; he developed a close friendship with Nimmi, an Indian film actress in her twenties, who introduced him to studios of Bombay (which was hub of India's films).