Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1971 April 10 : typescript.

Thanking Jhabvala for forwarding the article from the Times of India; mentioning that she was right in thinking that film critics don't actually need to be briefed about a film before seeing it, which was the procedure they had to follow for critics from New York publications; writing that "Budhi Stella" (artist Stella Snead) has taken up residence in New York; describing how she plans to "do" South America now that she decided to give up her house in Janki Kutir (a seaside neighborhood in Mumbai); saying he and Ismail met her on the corner of 2nd Avenue and that is how he knows the specifics; noting she invited them to Westchester for an Easter egg hunt the following day; saying he wanted to go, but that Merchant refused, and so they decided against it; writing that Merchant helped her get through Indian customs with more than twenty cases of pebbles; continuing that she plans to implement a dark room in her single bedroom, which horrified him and Merchant, "what a terrible thought, and stinking of chemicals, and she doesn't know how to cook, or clean, presumably. What will she do?"; concluding the update on Snead with the observation that "there she was, on that gritty corner, in a great lavender muffler, hesitating, a little like the old lady she will soon be, afraid to cross the street" but that "she will push off for Latin America, so maybe it will all be okay"; narrating that Holly Woodlawn had an argument with himself and Merchant and she will not star in their forthcoming project after all; saying the disagreement stemmed from a restructuring of the script (based on the expense of the first version) that would make Woodlawn one of a cast of fifteen rather than the sole star of the movie; discussing that she wanted a larger fee, but that they were already giving her ten times what she made for Warhol's "Trash" and ten percent of the total profits; noting that Joe Saleh is trying to get the money so the new script (written with George Trow) can be put into production, but that "lately things have not been as good between us" and that "Ismail gets riled up by Joe and doesn't quite trust him the way he once did"; agreeing that Saleh has been more inconsistent than ever; writing that in spite of this strange period, he feels they are on the brink of beginning production for another film; pivoting to discuss how many people in New York say "Bombay Talkie" was a massive critical success, which is at odds with the reality of the film's reception; expressing confusion at this--"It doesn't seem just an expression of politeness, these people really mean it"; providing updates about the inquiries he promised to make about Renana's college admissions; saying Cary Welch hasn't gotten back to him except to say that he only has influence in the graduate department for Islamic Studies; advising that she apply regardless, but should ensure that she follows application instructions to the letter, because at schools like Harvard, that can make or break acceptance.