Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1971 February 15 : typescript manuscript.

Writing that he is not concerned about what Indians have to say about the Chaudhuri film he is working on; saying that instead, he is worried that the BBC might try to censor the film from Indian audiences; continuing to reflect on how Chaudhuri has said many things that might incur censorship, including criticizing Nehru's government as a dictatorship and writing that modern India is on the brink of total collapse; continuing that he has been thinking of asking John Freeman to narrate the film; discussing how dubbing new dialogue over documentary shots can amplify them exponentially; pivoting to discuss how he wrote Catherine Deneuve to ask her to play a lead role in his adaptation of Henry James's "The American"; saying he heard from a friend that François Truffaut liked "Shakespeare Wallah" immensely and is excited for a potential James adaptaion; mentioning that Truffaut's message reminded him a lot of how the Maestro (Satyajit Ray) used to talk about his projects; hoping that Truffaut can be relied upon to make connections in Paris for them; giving suggestions for how to navigate "Bombay Talkie" release given India's current political dynamics; asking after the "Illustrated Weekly" issue on "Bombay Talkie"; narrating an interview he gave to a young Stephen Varble; writing that Varble kept emphasizing how their films have a cult following, to which he replied "I hoped the cult hurried up a bit, before I grew too old to appreciate it, and where were the devotees when Bombay Talkie opened?; saying the interview concluded with Varble attempting to play it back, and "nothing could be heard but a static and some tinny words now and then."