Letter from Ismail Merchant, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1968 December 28 : autograph manuscript signed.

Saying he spent his birthday [December 25] with "Dominique and Nazru," who prepared "French goose with chestnuts"; describing the reaction of the Fox distribution and publicity people to "The Guru"-- "they find the film falls between two barrels, neither commercial nor art"-- and saying they want to screen the film for some critics in order to see how to proceed; mentioning that they "liked Utpal very much and were disappointed with Michael"; saying George Trow had a similar reaction to Michael when he screened the film for Tulane Drama Review; pointing out that the people they screened the film for in London, including her mother "Mrs. Prawer" also liked it; letting her know Ivory is in California at present and will be back by January 5th.