Letter from Ismail Merchant, Mumbai, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York 1971 February 14 : autograph manuscript.

Discussing how depressing the Indian premiere of "Bombay Talkie" could be; emphasizing how defeated Shashi feels; mentioning that "no one wants him for their films" and how important it is "to make successful films with him. You and Ruth owe it to him"; discussing that the rights to Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" would cost them over $200,000; mentioning that Henry Herbert was offered a similar deal, but turned it down; asking Ivory to handle a small fee for the apartment; checking in about the editing of "Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization"; asking more about the production of "Sunny Side Up"; saying he went to visit Asha Puthli at her new penthouse; writing "I hope you are following up on all the things we have discussed [...] I do not want to have excuses for once--please"; reminding Ivory to follow up with his lawyer in Fresno about his father's estate settlement; writing he wishes Ivory were there with him.