Her career as a screenwriter developed after Ismail Merchant and James Ivory asked her to develop a script based on her 1960 novel "The Householder, " published when she was living as an expatriate in Delhi.
"Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has been a beloved member of the Merchant Ivory family since 1960, comprising one-third of our indomitable trifecta that included director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant, " said the company's director of development, Neil Jesuele.