First film of Producer Ismail Merchant, which was not directed by James Ivory. The movie was directed by Nicholas Meyer.
One of nine movies that Shashi Kapoor made with Merchant Ivory Productions. The others being Bombay Talkie (1970), Side Streets (1998), In Custody (1994), Heat and Dust (1983), The Householder (1963), Shakespeare-Wallah (1965), In Ismail's Custody (1994), and The Wandering Company (1985).
The film was released thirty-six years after its source novel had been published.
Second and final (to date, March 2015) of two filmed adaptations of a John Masters novel. The first being Bhowani Junction (1956).
Treat Williams and Christopher Reeve, the latter of whom had starred in Merchant Ivory Productions' earlier film The Bostonians (1984), were approached to play the lead role of English Captain William Savage, which in the end was cast with Pierce Brosnan.