Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, 1967 April 15 : autograph manuscript signed.

Opening "Here is the synopsis for the Ustad film" [i.e. "The Guru"-- synopsis is not present]; laying out her thoughts about the plot and characters; pointing out that this draft is only for them; advising Ivory to "think about this sysnopsis now, as well as about what we have already written, & see what you want changed, what you want included, and what you want left out," and when they have consulted each other about all that, "I'll do another synopsis. This one will be for outside consumption"; wondering how much of the story will work for people with little knowledge of India; repeating her conviction that she doesn't want to write a full script until funding has been secured, comparing it to taking "a leap in the dark"; moving to the subject of the "Shakespeare Wallah" sequel-- telling Ivory his desire for a full script "typed & bound" frightens her, foreseeing "a blank brick wall of rejection & I already feel the pain of having my head jammed against it"; allowing, on the other hand, that she would be willing to finish the script "only for your & my benefit, for our own personal satisfaction"; voicing concern that the sequel script has a limited shelf life; referencing Joseph Losey's admission that he keeps 4 scripts ready for production at all times; asking "don't scripts die if they're kept in a cupboard too long?"; musing on the ephemerality of scripts and her lack of faith in "the people who make films" and her dependency on them: "If I write a story or a book or something, it's just me & no one else. If no one prints it, well, that's all right [...] At least the thing is there, I've done it all, it's born. But a script is just an embryo, & other people have to make it born, & if they don't, the thing is an abortion. Ugly word. Ugly connotation. I hate it, I don't want it, it frightens me. Yes, that's why I'm hanging back on the Sequel. I'm afraid other people will abort it."