Mumbai: Zee Studio will pay a tribute to Ismail Merchant and James Ivory with its festival Merchant Ivory, scheduled at 10:30 pm every Saturday night.

Nominated over 30 times at the Oscars and having bagged the award too, Merchant-Ivory films have set a towering precedent for movies of their genre. In fact, they have paved the way for more contemporary crossover cinema such as The Namesake, Provoked and Bend it Like Beckham.

The festival will commence with Shakespeare Wallah starring Shashi Kapoor. Other Kapoor films that will be aired in the course of the festival include In Custody, Heat and Dust and The Householder.

The diversity of Merchant Ivory’s cultural roots is evident in the range of locations their movies were shot in: Delhi, Bombay, and Benares; London, Paris, and Florence; New York, England and Texas! They capture a vital sense of place and often a lyrical expression of the milieu they belonged to.

Merchant Ivory have given audiences films like A Room with a View, The Householder, Oscar-winning Howard’s End, Heat and Dust, Europeans and Maurice.