Weaving his charm on the big screen, producer Ismail Merchant directs The Mystic Masseur, a rags to riches tale of passion and self-invention.

Reelwriter.net was fortunate to catch up with Ismail Merchant, the producing genius behind Merchant & Ivory Productions at this year's Philadelphia Weekend Film Festival where his latest work, The Mystic Masseur (2001) was screened. Merchant steps into the director's chair for the sixth time with a beautifully crafted exploration of one man's journey from rags to riches in a mystical land.

There's an overall feel to a Merchant/Ivory film that's unmistakable. Rich with character development and low on Hollywood gloss -- The Mystic Masseur carries that Merchant/Ivory texture from the first frame of a train chugging into the station in Oxford England to the images of a picturesque village in Trinidad. Ismail Merchant, best known as the producing arm of Merchant Ivory Productions, directs the film based on Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipail's novel of the same name. The project was shot in 40 days and came in at $3 million. "We always want to bring maximum money on the screen, the opulence and richness of it is a hallmark of Merchant Ivory," he says. "We don't like to throw money around. We want to do it well and to show the film off in the best possible manner."

With his partner James Ivory, Merchant has been known to discover such talents as Greta Scacchi, Hugh Grant, and Helena Bonham Carter. In his latest project the newly discovered talent is actor, Aasif Mandvi. Merchant discovered the actor/writer when he was performing his off Broadway one-man show, Sakina's Restaurant. He then offered him a major film role as Ganesh, the lead character in The Mystic Masseur who makes his way in life by means of self-invention. The character first becomes a masseur for the local townspeople then as a writer (who seemingly innocently plagiarizes published authors) and lastly as a mystic and a politician who manages to draw crowds with hypnotic charm. Could it be that Merchant found parallels in this character and himself? "It's the story of this wonderful character and his story of rags to riches," says Merchant. "It's a very human story that everyone can identify with. That's the reason I was drawn to it. All of the characters are so sympathetic, human, interesting -- so full of life."

Born in India on Christmas day in 1936, Ismail Noormohamed Abdul Rehman came to the United States as a student in 1958. After meeting fledgling filmmaker James Ivory, he would go on to become a producer who raised money for films, hired actors at modest salaries to work on quality material, and helped to build a powerhouse production company. Merchant Ivory Productions has brought us such masterpiece cinema as A Room with a View, The Remains of the Day, and A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. Merchant, like the character Ganesh, has a hypnotic charm when it comes to getting films made. It's a talent that he is aware of. "You should never be shy to do anything as a producer," says Merchant. "You can serve coffee, cajole with writers and get actors to work for small amounts of money."

One of those actors he cajoled to work for a relatively small fee was Paul Newman who starred in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge with his wife Joanne Woodward. At this year's Philadelphia Weekend Film Festival, Reelwriter.net caught up with Merchant who told the story of how he first met Paul Newman more than 40 years ago.

Merchant on Merchant:

Ismail Merchant: I was in Bombay as a student. There was a metro cinema near the college. A film called Some Body Up There Likes Me was playing. And I just loved that film and I said this actor Paul Newman is just so extraordinary. So I went three or four times to see the film.

Then in 1958 I came to New York as a student and Sweet Bird of Youth was playing on Broadway. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to see Paul Newman. So I bought a student ticket and went to the theater and saw Geraldine Page and Paul Newman. So I went backstage and I told the guard that I have come to see Mr. Newman - I have an appointment with him - I come from Delhi. The man said "Fine." So I knocked at his dressing room door and I was standing there just at the threshold and I said, "Mr. Newman you are such a great actor, you must come to India and make a film there." He said, "Come on in." We chatted and then said goodbye. And then (when I left the theater) I stood under the marquee and he came out to his motor bike. He said, "What are you doing," and I said "It's raining a little" (but actually I wanted to see him again). So he asked me where I lived and I said I lived downtown in the village, Washington Square. He said O.K. hop on - I'm going in that direction. I live in the Village also. I hopped on his motorbike and he dropped me in Washington Square and he went away.

Twenty-eight years later we're sitting and having dinner with Joanne Woodward, James Ivory, Ruth and myself - offering Paul Newman to star in Mr. And Mrs. Bridge with his wife Joanne Woodward. So we had dinner and we talked about the part. At the end of the dinner, I asked Paul, I said, "Paul do you remember twenty-eight years ago I came to see you in Sweet Bird of Youth. He took off his glasses and he looked at me and he said, "Aha, you are the crazy Indian."

© Reelwriter.net 2002
All rights reserved.