Ismail Merchant Movies

Set during World War II, an upper-class family begins to fall apart due to the conservative nature of the patriarch and the progressive values of his...

The story of a family troupe of English actors who travel around the towns and villages in India giving performances of Shakespearean plays. Through...

Prem, a young school teacher, is arranged married and begins the journey of learning the roles and responsibilities required of him.

A tribe of primitive "mudpeople" encounter a croquet ball, rolling through their forest. Following it, they find themselves on a vast, deserted Long...

On the birthday of her late father, a deposed Maharaja, a displaced Indian princess living in London and his former private secretary watch home...

This lighthearted romp through Royal India presents a world of Maharajas, palaces, imperiled art objects, and the foreign collectors who will stop at...

Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece the Apu Trilogy is widely considered one of the most important works in cinema history. In 1992, Ray was awarded the...

In the Mumbai, India, tenement community of Pavanpul, young female courtesans sing, dance and perform sexual favors for male clientele. Directors...

Looks at the musical extravaganzas which constitute the main bulk of commercial cinema in India; in particular at the career of Helen, the undisputed...

This 14-minute film talks about the Hindu god Brahma's creation of life, the world and of course the first woman. Saeed Jaffrey narrates the story as...

In the time frame of a single day (from dawn to dust), the film records the wanderings of an Indian youth who sleeps on the beach, holds...

Off-camera, a Western traveler tells us of hearing singing from his hotel window in Bombay. He searches for the source, and discovers a caste of...

Nirad C. Chaudhuri expounds his views on culture, history, religion and society from a comparative perspective.

This short documentary, shot in July 1976 at the Mannes College of Music on Manhattan's Upper East Side, marks the first collaboration between...