Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, 1970 October 30 : autograph manuscript signed.

Telling him that her favorite reaction to Bombay Talkie has been the one that Shashi Kapoor told her Sukhdev had, which was to suggest a different ending where Kapoor is not killed; imagining how she would explain the suggested ending to Ismail Merchant and Merchant's reaction to this explanation; communicating that working with another cameraman (identified in a post-it note as Walter Lassally) has confirmed for her that she does not enjoy working with Subrata Mitra; asking whether his impression of Nirad Chaudhuri is that he is "a man of high talent or just a foolish, silly old man"; reflecting on the dearth she perceives of Indian people have both "high talent" and humility about their talents; postulating that "their characters deteriorate under the weight of their talent, they just can't carry it" and citing Mitra, Chaudhuri and "sometimes even the Maestro" as supporting examples; telling him that "Jennifer also thinks it must have been exhilarating for you to work with an English crew"; telling him that she has received his "imaginary interview" but didn't have time to talk to him about it before it is due; stating that she's cut out some parts of the interview that she believes makes him sound "piqued, more, resentful-sometimes even spiteful"; explaining why she believes her edits are worthwhile and how she thinks they have changed his tone, particularly regarding the edits about the negative reception his work has received within India and from Indian critics; describing the next steps she'll take with the edited interview; telling him that she'll send a copy of a piece she's writing that is "of no interest to anyone, not even myself"; complaining about the difficulty of coming up with slogans for the movie posters; describing the anticipation she feels ahead of the movie's premiere date; asking about his plans for the distribution of the movie; reflecting on Jhab's inability to attend his mother's funeral and the event's lack of meaning to him ("a funeral means nothing to him, no more than to her"); expressing her gratitude that her late mother-in-law was in Bombay Talkie.