Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, 1970 December 14 : autograph manuscript signed.

Asking forgiveness for not writing sooner; explaining that her delay in writing is because she was "so crushed and knew you were the same, and I couldn't say anything of any comfort to you whatsoever"; telling him that she is thinking of him, Ismail Merchant, Jennifer Kendal, and Joseph Saleh ("although not so much of [Joseph], since I don't know him all that well, as of his money."); telling him that she had been wondering why critics didn't like their movie but that the reasons for their distaste is obvious in the press clippings he sent ("they see our film as just a boring, old-fashioned, second-rate movie"); comparing the reception of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali and their Shakespeare Wallah and postulating that those two movies would have received similarly lackluster responses if released today; hypothesizing that critics will be interested in films centered on India again someday, though perhaps "too late for us"; saying that "if India had anything to offer, any market for us as it does for the Maestro, that would be different, but since it hasn't, there's no point in this anymore"; bemoaning that their film is speaking a language their audiences can't understand ("we've been rejected but only because we've been moon people speaking in a moon language"); reflecting on her lack of respect for Indian audiences because "they're too unsophisticated--yes, even those, no especially those, who pride themselves so much on being sophisticated"; expressing sympathy again for him, Merchant, Kendal, and "Joe"; addressing his fear that "those films will just sink out of sight and will never be seen again" ("[...] the best thing is not to think about it. Don't look back."); imagining what Ivory's triumphant return to India and Indian film could be if he made successful films elsewhere first; telling him that she's enclosing Richard MacRory's letter; asking him again what his impression was of Nirad Chaudhuri.