Ismail Merchant's The Mystic Masseur has been filming on location in Trinidad for the past month-and-a-half. Assistant Editor Nirshan Perera reports from the front lines of the emerging movie.

When Ismail Merchant invited me to Trinidad, I was struck by a mighty pang of guilt.

Although I had studied post-colonial literature in college, I hadn't heard of the V S Naipaul book that the movie is based on, let alone read it.

But eight bookshops, four libraries, and several Internet searches later, I felt a bit better. Putting my hands on an actual copy of Naipaul's novel was more than hard going. It was like asking for a first edition David Copperfield.

Nevertheless, after a solid week of sleuthing, I finally lucked out: I found a 1983 volume, last published by Alfred Knopf, sitting on a dusty back shelf of the Fremont library. However The Mystic Masseur was lumped together with two of the Trinidadian author's other early novels.

Leafing through the smattering of blue ink due dates stamped inside, I was struck by another curious fact: It hadn't been checked out since 1995!

Fast forward a few weeks... So here I am, finally, on the set of The Mystic Masseur, chatting up Merchant himself. The shooting schedule is rigorous, but the exhausted director has been gracious enough to squeeze a lunchtime hour in for me -- after all, I have traveled 4,000 miles, from northern California to the Caribbean, just to have a peek at his latest project.

We are sitting at a rickety table, hunched over two plates of biryani. My notebooks are splayed out around me and the precious book is within easy reach. Perhaps it's the birds chirping and the insects buzzing lazily around in the humid air... but my interviewer's instincts are temporarily lulled.

Pen poised, I fire off my first question: "This isn't one of Naipaul's best books, nor is it very well known. Why The Mystic Masseur over, say, A House for Mr Biswas or even The Mimic Men?"

Right away I know I've hit a raw nerve.

"Well, you don't always have to do the most well-known book," Merchant responds. You can detect more than a trace of peevishness in his smooth Anglo-Indian intonation. It's clear he is awfully protective of the tiny book I am flipping through and perhaps I have posed the question a bit too brusquely.

"The most well-known book of E M Forester was Passage to India or Howard's End, yet we (Merchant Ivory Productions) did A Room with a View first," he continues. "If the characters are interesting and you are drawn to it, that's the reason you do a film."

I tackle the question from another angle.

"When did it first occur to you to make this film?"

"I first read The Mystic Masseur in college and as all good books do, it remained in my mind," Merchant says, warming up now. "Then I re-read the book six years ago and was very drawn to it. I just laughed and enjoyed it. And I thought this would make a very good film since the principal character is so endearing."

"Ganesh is a self-made man with talent and the ability to convince people," he notes, referring to the novel's protagonist. In The Mystic Masseur, Naipaul traces the humorous arc of Ganesh's career from a poor schoolteacher to a celebrated politico. "I find his rise from the mystic to the writer to the politician fascinating," Merchant says.

"It's almost like an odyssey or an epic of some sort," I offer.

"Yes, it is an odyssey -- it's small, very condensed, but it's an epic nonetheless."

But how did he get the famously cantankerous writer to part with the screen rights for a novel for the first time ever, I wonder.

"When I first contacted his agent six years ago, I was given the run around," Merchant admits. "Then I wrote to him a short personal letter. I said I would like to do this because it's a wonderful book and I'll do great justice to it. I told him he could see my film, In Custody, which I made from Anita Desai's novel. He knew about us (Merchant Ivory Productions), of course.

"So he wrote to me: 'Dear Ismail, I've heard about your legendary powers of persuasion. You may film Mystic Masseur.'"

Naipaul's letter highlights an often glossed over fact. Merchant's success as an independent film-maker has more to do with his indefatigable determination than airy charm.

"It's always been hard work," he says, reflecting on his 40-year career. "For instance, even getting a financier to talk to you -- they never want to -- but if you stand at their door, swaying like an elephant, they will sooner or later. That was one of things I learned to do early on. And even now I'm swaying," 64-year-old Merchant says, laughing.

"Of course, you have to have the passion and the feeling and the dedication," he continues. "But you also need perseverance: If you believe in something, don't let yourself be defeated by any obstacles. Be an elephant in pursuing your goals. That's advice I've followed all my life…"

As he trails off, Merchant's eyes zero in on some object in the distance, some curious something that he alone can see. Watching him, I realize The Mystic Masseur project illustrates this grim determination perfectly. Merchant sees tremendous beauty in a long ignored tale and is trying to give it a new lease of life, devil take the odds stacked against him.

His last movie, The Golden Bowl, is sputtering both critically and commercially, I know. Its first distributor, Miramax, pulled out of the project after seeing the finished product and since then it has been panned at the Cannes film festival.

Reviewing all this in my mind, I delicately ask Merchant if he thinks The Mystic Masseur will truly strike a chord with mainstream audiences. To myself, I wonder: Can this movie recapture the heyday Merchant Ivory success of Howard's End and Remains of The Day?

"Why not?" the elephant objects, snapping back to life. "Everyone is interested in a story about success, humor, life, another world. I think there should be a great deal of interest!"

"Everyone is always so hooked up on popular cinema and that's worrisome," he adds. "But if you can have a good story too, that's the way to proceed."

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On the Sets of The Mystic Masseur

Photos: Parvena Hafizka
Design: Dominic Xavier

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