Friday, May 27 2005 19:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Eminent India-born director Ismail Merchant, who passed away at a London hospital on Wednesday (May 25, 2005), would be buried at Bada Kabrastan in south Mumbai tomorrow (May 28, 2005), a family source said.

"The body would be brought in Mumbai tomorrow afternoon by an Air India flight and taken to a relative's residence at Mumbai Central," the source today.

The body would lie there for friends and relatives to pay their last homage, and the funeral procession would begin at 16:00 hrs (IST) the same day, the source said adding "The burial shall take place at 21:00 hrs (IST) at Bada Kabristan at Marine lines in south Mumbai".

The 68-year-old veteran producer-director had died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital at London on Wednesday due to ulcer burst in the abdomen. Merchant had been reportedly suffering from stomach ailments for the last few days and had recently undergone a surgery for abdominal ulcers.

Meanwhile, remembering Merchant, noted actor Shashi Kapoor said that he was a 'very good friend'.

"We had a fantastic relationship. Even a love-hate one," Kapoor told a news channel in Mumbai today. Kapoor, who worked in Merchant's film 'Muhafiz', said that when he read the film's script, he first felt that he would not be able to deliver in Urdu.

"I can do well with Urdu in (Hindi) films, but this is difficult," Kapoor said he told Merchant, only to be insisted upon to do the role.

Kapoor said he would also remember the premiere of this film in the US, whose earnings had Merchant donated to a heart hospital in Delhi.