Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 15 July 1969 : typescript signed.

Enclosing some more reviews of "The Guru" [not present]; analyzing why the film hasn't done well, in both the U.S. and India; glumly looking toward a time "when my request for a visa will be refused... when our films will not be allowed out of India without prior screening ... when the Maestro will be 'unavailable' to help us out..."; concluding that even though they managed to get Utpal out of prison, "we must be prepared for all these things"; asking what she thinks of his "fake interview" idea [to give them an opportunity to answer their Indian critics]; suggesting that Jhab help them do it, and if he approves, "please approach Kushwant"; describing a small dust-up with some Muslims in Calcutta over a scene in "The Guru" where "they objected to the way Madhur put down the Koran to go and see who was at the door. If I remember correctly, didn't she close it, kiss it, and put it on its little stand? Well, they said, these zealots, that she flung it down disrespectfully"; proposing two new scenes for "A Lovely World," and another one between the characters Arun and Shobha; observing "I sit all day in this office, and no one calls. I see now what Ismail goes through"; telling her he has told Merchant "to dip into mini-classic funds" [this is probably a reference to a review of "Shakespeare Wallah" that dubbed it "a mini classic"-- i.e., profits from "Shakespeare Wallah"] and observing he hasn't yet received anything from his sister-- "I'll be eating soup and crackers soon"; adding in a postscript that he has indeed received his visa for India, with help from the consul; telling her he started to read "that toad story" [possibly an article Jhabvala sent with the note "Toad's testament"; see MA 23840.738] but had to "put it down after a few paragraphs. Horrible"; musing over the Central and South American countries their films have played in.