Letter from Ismail Merchant, Mumbai, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, [1964 January 19?] : autograph manucript signed.

Saying Mr. Dutt of the Indian Ministry of Finance hasn't yet sent the letter he needs to send to Columbia, but that Jhab is working on it, and that the passage of the "Householder" print and negative through customs duty-free is "a miracle"; mentioning that during his meeting with "the authorities" at the Reserve Bank of India he was told that Merchant Ivory Productions has inadvertantly violated the Foreign Exchange Act but hopefully it will be worked out; asking when Ivory intends to come back to India; saying he is currently fasting for Ramadan, and wishes Ivory would come the day before Eid; suggesting that when he does come, Ivory should go to Delhi, and Merchant will meet him there, as he suspects he will be there for the "Doll's Wedding" shoot by then; saying he has been talking to the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, a friend of Shashi's, about film financing and he has promised to help; repeating once again his request that Ivory send him some MIP and personal letterhead, as well as a photograph; saying he is currently working on the documentary on Indian film, and "a chap called Garga" has just made one on Satyajit Ray [Creative Artists of India: Satyajit Ray (1964), dir. Bagwan Das Garga], which Merchant is sure Ivory would like to see.