MUMBAI, May 28: Mumbai-born Ismail Merchant, one of Hollywood’s top producers who mastered the period-piece genre in a 44-year filmmaking partnership with James Ivory, was buried in his home town on Saturday. “It was ... his wish to be buried in India, and he wanted to be buried near his mum,” said production coordinator Jaya Ramachandran, who worked with Ismail Merchant for 10 years.

Merchant, 68, died at a London hospital on Wednesday. He had recently undergone surgery for abdominal ulcers. He was unmarried.

The Merchant-Ivory brand of costume drama spans some 40 films from “The Householder”, a 1963 film set in India, to Le Divorce in 2003, an art house hit.—Reuters