Ismail
Merchant's
Autobiography
Released
MUMBAI:
Ismail
Merchant's
autobiography,
'A
Passage
from
India',
was
released
here
on
Monday
by
thespians
Dilip
Kumar
and
Shashi
Kapoor.
The
book
records
a
40-year
journey
of
the
famed
film-maker
who
gradually
shifted
from
Bollywood
to
Hollywood.
Merchant,
now
based
in
the
US,
was
present
on
the
occasion.
He
started
working
on
the
book
last
year
and
the
objective
of
documenting
his
experiences
was
to
provide
inspiration
to
the
people.
"Because
it
is
such
an
interesting
thing
to
inspire
people.
This
book
is
nothing
but
a
positive
approach
to
life
and
work,"
said
Ismail
Merchant,
who
has
an
impeccable
reputation
as
a
quality
film-maker
and
is
held
in
high
regard
by
actors
who
have
worked
with
him.
"I've
known
Ismail
Merchant
for
45-50
years,
he
is
an
enthusiastic
cinema
man,
he
continues
to
keep
on
going
and
in
the
process
he
made
very
good,
successful
films.
I
wish
he
reaches
greater
heights,"
said
Dilip
Kumar.
Shabana
Azmi,
actress
and
member
of
the
Rajya
Sabha,
said,
"Ismail
Merchant
is
synonymous
with
good
quality
work,
that
is
painstakingly
creative
and
that
in
itself
is
an
achievement."
Educated
in
Mumbai
and
in
the
US,
India-born
Merchant
was
set
for
a
business
administration
career.
But
his
interest
in
films
took
him
to
Hollywood,
and
the
rest
is
history.
Two
people
who
have
influenced
him
greatly
are
actress
Nimmi
and
Satyajit
Ray.
It
was
when
Merchant
accompanied
Nimmi
to
the
premiere
of
her
film
Barsaat,
at
age
of
13,
that
he
knew
that
he
wanted
to
spend
his
life
in
the
world
of
colluloid.
After
40
years
in
the
business
of
movies,
he
is
still
there
and
the
printed
160
pages
are
clearly
not
enough
to
say
it
all.
-February
24,
2003
Prakash
Jha's
'Gangaajal'
a
Socio-political
Drama
MUMBAI:
A
small
town
called
Wai,
located
close
to
Panchagani
in
Maharashtra,
is
abuzz
with
sounds
of
camera,
clap
and
action
as
Prakash
Jha
is
busy
shooting
his
next
film,
'Gangaajal
-
The
Holy
Weapon',
in
a
start-to-finish
schedule.
But
this
is
not
the
first
time
that
he
is
shooting
in
this
place.
He
has
already
shot
major
portions
of
'Bandish',
'Mrityudand'
and
'Rahul'
in
and
around
Panchagani
and
Mahabaleshwar,
and
now
seems
to
have
developed
a
liking
for
the
place.
'Gangaajal'
is
socio-political
drama
projecting
the
relation
between
the
police
and
the
society
in
the
small
town
of
Tejpur
in
Bihar.
According
to
Jha,
the
word
'Gangaajal'
has
been
used
metaphorically
as
a
weapon
which
is
to
cleanse
the
rot
in
a
society
by
resorting
to
unusual
methods
like
encounter,
boycott
etc.
The
lead
role,
that
of
a
young
IPS
officer,
is
played
by
Ajay
Devgan.
He
feels
that
although
there
is
action
in
the
movie,
it
goes
with
the
script
and
thus
it
is
not
one
of
those
out-and-out
action
dramas.
This
is
the
second
time
that
he
is
working
with
Prakash
Jha.
The
protagonist
is
a
person
who
is
gripped
by
a
dilemma,
a
dilemma
that
disturbs
his
logic
and
puts
him
in
a
scenario
where
he
has
to
choose
his
own
heroism.
Says
Devgan:
"The
characters
are
policemen
who
have
different
principles.
There
are
policemen
who
go
by
the
book,
there
are
also
policemen
who
believe
that
if
we
follow
law
and
order,
nothing
can
be
done.
So
it
is
about
society,
about
the
problem
in
the
society
and
how
we
tackle
it."
Gracy
Singh
is
in
the
female
lead
role,
portraying
Devgan's
wife.
The
film
has
a
total
of
87
characters
with
artistes
like
Mohan
Agashe,
Mukesh
Tiwari,
Ayub
Khan
and
Anita
Kanwal
doing
the
needful.
It
is
being
shot
at
Wai
village
since
almost
a
month
now
and
is
supposed
to
be
completed
in
a
single
60-day
schedule.
Leading
the
negative
bandwagon
in
the
movie
is
the
famous
theatre
actor
Mohan
Joshi
who
says
that
one-schedule
shoots
are
very
helpful
in
maintaining
the
much-needed
continuity
for
an
actor.
"Basically
there
is
a
continuity
in
what
you
are
doing.
The
main
characters
stay
at
a
place
for
a
particular
time
and
thus
they
remember
what
they
have
been
doing.
If
there
is
a
break
of
six
months
between
schedules,
then
you
tend
to
forget
what
you
had
done
on
that
last
day.
This
doesn't
happen
over
here,"
Joshi
remarked.
The
film
is
supposed
to
be
a
long-lasting
dream
of
Prakash
Jha
as
he
had
conceived
the
concept
right
after
his
second
film
'Damul'
way
back
in
1984.
Now,
almost
50
to
60
per
cent
of
the
shooting
has
been
