Typed on Merchant Ivory letterhead.
Envelope stamped, addressed to Mrs. R. Prawer Jhabvala, 1-A Flagstaff Road, Delhi 6, India; postmarked March 20, 1967. Inscribed by James Ivory circa 2021, "My response to Ruth's letter to me about the "Shakespeare Wallah" premiere in N. Delhi (see archive for this) her view of it."
Written in reply to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's letter of March 9, 1967 [see MA 23840.389].
The Ashok Mitra discussed in this letter and in MA23840.389 was at the time Secretary of the Indian MInistry of Information and Broadcasting; it is unclear whether this is the same Ashok Mitra (1928-2018) who later became chief economic adviser to the Government of India, finance minister of West Bengal, and a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Claiming that her last letter "so shook me" that he had to wait a few days before replying; assuring her that he wouldn't have weathered the "Shakespeare Wallah" premiere in Delhi any better than she or the other attendees did; expressing regret -- "my biggest regret"-- that "the Freeman's and whichever other of our friends there are in Delhi had to see the film under the conditions you described," and hoping they can see it again in a better setting; admitting that "I think I am to blame for not warning you in advance" that "all charity premieres are like that"; describing previous charity premieres they have held, and the similar conditions; expressing curiosity about what "the average Indian" will think of the film; affirming that she made the right decision about accepting flowers; asking several questions about the evening; expressing some anxiety about the censor certificate ("Who is Ashok Mitra?"); repeating many of the details Ruth described ("Faie Joyce, David Swope, and Marlon Brando racing through the night in a car together? The President held up by four men ... Marie Seton. Jaakals. ... Sopare and Mrs. Maestro ..."), and saying it sounds like "a surrealist dream"; lamenting the fact that "the Maestro [Satyajit Ray] had to be present in our hour of shame"; dismissing the experience-- "We must be philosophic about premieres"; thanking her for "that wonderful four pages of gracious-living suggestions. I laughed so hard I almost fell off the sofa"; thanking her also for the new outline of the "Shakespeare Wallah" sequel; describing the enclosures: "some material about a premiere held in New York which looks to have been quite different from any of ours. And a little piece from the New Yorker about Jeremy Steig..."; asking her to write again; asking where Merchant is now; reminding her to "write a lovely letter" to Nazrul Rahman about the tea plantation project.