Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory, New York, New York, 1971 May 11 : autograph manuscript signed.

Assuming that by the time he gets this letter, he will have settled into shooting; asking for pictures and details of the shoot and peppering Ivory with questions: "Are you wearing Army shirts? Are you drinking Bloody Marys? Is Ismail shouting at you in front of everyone-- in front of all those Americans? Tell me everything that's happening, and I'm sure lots of bizarre and amusing things are going on"; embarking on a discussion of "Bombay Talkie"-- "I wish I didn't have to do this"-- by reporting on how well attended the two-week Delhi run has been, and pointing out that two weeks was a better length of time than three, like the Bombay run, which lost Shashi money; describing the make-up of the audiences, not many art film lovers, many young people and students; using Jhab's partner Anand's daughter-- "who would certainly never see anything except 'Joker Mera Naam' [sic] on the one hand, & 'Sound of Music' on the other"-- as an example: she saw the film in a group of nine, and only one liked it; relating that Renana and Ava have reported similar outcomes; continuing "Then there were the downstairs audiences, who obviously came only for the kissing scenes [...] and get restive the rest of the time"; describing some of these audiences and the whistling and "obscenities"; noting "one terrific piece of luck"-- the film was mistakenly given a U certificate [unrestricted audience]; telling him "I refuse to send you any press cuttings," because she doesn't want him to be upset while he's shooting, and because the reviews in the Statesman, the Times of India, and the Hindustan Times "are really obscene"; singling out Amita Malik's review, which stated that Zia was the only good thing in the film-- "All this is laughable-- but what is not laughable is the personal viciousness, the spite, & the hysteria [...] What have we done to these people that they're so personally incensed against us? It's always been so, since HH ["The Householder"] days, & I thought it reached its crescendo with Guru but it was worse this time"; observing that both the Maestro [Satyajit Ray] and Nirad Chaudhuri were abused by Indian critics too, but that "they know it to be part of their national heritage, & they fight back, & I know certainly as far as Nirad is concerned, he enjoys fighting back. But I'm not a fighter by nature, not at all"; admitting she didn't intend to tell Ivory about the reviews, but "I just don't feel strong enough to carry it by myself"; saying "Jhab says people have talked to him & everyone is laughing at these reviewers & saying how it's all personal spite. Well of course it is-- but that's what's so awful"; telling him that she and the family will be going to Kasauli "from 29 May to 12 June" and staying at the Alasia Hotel, so he should write her there; admitting that "all this made my 44th birthday the unhappiest I've ever had," and describing how Ivory and Merchant's birthday telegram was delayed for days, leading her to believe they'd forgotten; breaking the "one thing else that I must tell you that's been darkening my days-- today I'm telling you everything bad": John Freeman has left his wife Catherine; describing the circumstances and expressing disbelief and confusion at the news; suggesting they not mention this to anyone other than Merchant; asking him to "[f]orgive these awful letters."