Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, Dinuba, California, [1963] December 18 : autograph manuscript signed.

Reiterating in a somewhat clearer way her description of how she sees the plot of "the actors film" [later "Shakespeare Wallah"] originally outlined in her letter of December 12 (MA 23840.54), as she suspects he hasn't received it; again mentioning actors she envisions in the roles, like Shashi Kapoor, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, and radio personality Walter Gardner-Stanbridge; again suggesting they include one or more of the "interesting" Indian hill stations as a setting; saying she feels "very attracted to the idea of having Jennifer's sister [Felicity Kendal] play the girl"-- however, "all this is idle speculation till I hear definitely from you how you see the whole thing"; outlining how she imagines their collaboration on the screenplay to work, in practical terms; "and once we roughly have our structure down, Ismail can start getting everything together"; noting that this letter will probably arrive on Christmas, "so a very happy one to you. But I'll write again before that."