Letter from James Ivory, Mumbai, India, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1970 March 25 : typescript signed.

Joking that he will write a book called "The Joy of Directing and dedicate it to Subrata"; confirming that he received her letter about scene 2 "two days after we finished Scene 2" but that the final version was ultimately very similar to what she had sent; narrating the final version of the scene; explaining that because of a shortened shooting schedule, he was unable to get to try shooting a scene of Lucia's visions of the murder but that they may have a chance to shoot them if they return to the Taj Mahal Hotel; asking her not to tell Ismail Merchant that he thinks they will need to return to the hotel; reflecting on her lack of appreciation for the technical aspects of film production and how it makes him feel when she suggests technically impossible things ("I feel then like you would feel if I told you to leave the verb out of a particular sentence, or change the punctuation or something like that."); describing how much effort Mitra goes to lighting Jennifer Kendal in a way that will minimize her wrinkles, adding that "still all her wrinkles come" and that Kendal is still not accustomed to "taking her light"; admitting that the film likely will not be 90 minutes long but that it will also not be excessively long; imagining a potential ending that he is open to attempting; explaining his hesitation about the new scene introducing the ashram and suggesting an alternative.