Letter from Ismail Merchant, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, 1964 March 20 : typescript signed.

Commenting on a letter from Ivory to Ruth, and thoughts on the "Shakespeare Wallah" script; reacting somewhat sourly to the news, heard through the grapevine, that Ivory is planning a trip to Japan with his father prior to coming to India; describing a meeting he had that morning with Jhab and Mr. Dutt of the Ministry of Finance about the Columbia affair; collecting copies of correspondence with the Reserve Bank; saying his sister Rashida is getting married on the 5th of April, and further criticizing Ivory's decision to be in either New York or Japan then; accusing Ivory of always giving "priority to pleasure and amusements"; saying he will return to Bombay on the 26th or 27th of March and that, if he does not get an agreement with Columbia regarding "The Householder" he will proceed with the distribution through another company; accusing Ivory of being "prepared to forfiet [sic] 4 lakhs and give that wretched company everything they want," and insisting that Indian movie houses require a guarantee of revenue, which Columbia does not understand; saying he cannot raise funds for the actors film ["Shakespeare Wallah"]; signing off making reference to Ivory's having a "good rest on the coming trip to Japan."