London, 1966: Two legends meet for the first time

Satyajit Ray met fellow sci-fi author and one of the Big 3, Arthur C Clarke,
for the first time, on the sets of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Theyd already been
corresponding for over a couple of years when Ray first wrote to Clarke
asking him for his wishes for a science fiction film club that he and a few
friends wanted to start in Calcutta.
A little bit of a background here. Satyajit Ray wasnt just a huge sci-fi
fan, but also a good sci-fi author in his own right. Just the previous year, in
1965, the first collection of sci-fi stories featuring his eccentric scientist and
prolific inventor, Trilokeshwar Shonku, and containing the first Professor
Shonku story, 1961s Byomjatrir Diary (Diary of a Space Traveller), had
been published. The first of many to come for Ray would continue writing
about the sci-fi adventures of Professor Shonku until the late 1980s, with the
39th story half-written at the time of Rays demise. Most of these stories had
been and would be published in a childrens magazine, Sandesh, started
by his grandfather, writer and publisher Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury.
In London, the subject of the conversation between Ray and Clarke turned to
Rays desire to make a sci-fi film. He outlined a story to Clarke, in which an
alien visits Earth but and this was possibly a first isnt hostile,
antagonistic, or intent on conquering Earth, but is quite friendly and playful,
and forms a bond with a child. This was a far cry from the way aliens were
portrayed till then.

He outlined a story to Clarke, in which an alien visits Earth but and

this was possibly a first isnt antagonistic
Clarke found it promising, but that was about it. And we can presume that the
conversation ended with Clarke wishing Ray all the best, and with mutual
promises of keeping in touch.
Returning to Calcutta, Ray started to think seriously about the sci-fi project,
and towards the end of 1966 started working on ideas, using as his base a
science fiction short story hed written forSandesh in 1962
called Bankubabur Bandhu (Banku Babus Friend), about a benign alien that
lands in a forest near a small village in Bengal and how it establishes contact
with one of its humblest residents, Banku Babu. The bulk of the story
consisted primarily of dialogue between various villagers about strange lights
in the sky and their mocking of Banku Babu about his contact with a strange
creature. While it was a neat short story, the characters of the alien creature
and Banku Babu were not developed enough to merit a film.

Meanwhile in Sri Lanka

Arthur C Clarke, who had, by now, been living in Sri Lanka for over a
decade, told one of his good friends and skin-diving teacher, Michael J.
Wilson, about Satyajit Ray and his idea for a science fiction film he hoped to
make. Wilson, whod by then made Sri Lankas first colour film and was also
involved in a film project featuring a secret service agent called James
Banda, was immediately interested. He got in touch with Ray about making
this a big Hollywood production in English, assuring Ray that hed not face
any problems making the film.

Wilson got in touch with Ray about making this a big Hollywood
production in English
Ray told him there wasnt a script ready yet, but he had no objection to it
being a Hollywood film. However, he stipulated that it would have to be
made in three languages English, Hindi and Bengali, with the film shot in
rural Bengal, not Hollywood. Mike Wilson agreed.
L-R: Satyajit Ray, Arthur C. Clarke, Mike Wilson
Calcutta, February 1967: Ill make coffee for you,
Maestro
Undaunted by the fact that there wasnt much ready in terms of a script or a
treatment, and without an invitation, Mike Wilson flew to Calcutta, checked
into a hotel and announced to a surprised Satyajit Ray that he would stick
around until a script or a treatment was ready. On being told by Ray that
writing, for him, was an intensely private affair and that he discouraged any
company, Wilson told Ray, I shall sit by and make coffee for you when you
need it, Maestro.
Sit by he did, but Ray didnt get any coffee. Instead much to the chagrin of
Rays wife, Bijoya Wilson was addicted to drugs and alcohol and indulged
in them with a friend of his. In her words, she suffered them in silence only
with the hope of getting this film made. Meanwhile, Ray worked on the
script of The Alien for that is what the movie would be called and soon
had it ready. As a friend of Arthur C. Clarke, Wilson kept tossing ideas, all
rejected and/or ignored, and the final script incorporated at best two
suggestions, by most accounts, that Wilson made: that the colour of the alien
spaceship be golden and the word chick replaced with broad in the
dialogue of a key American character.

Wilson told Ray, I shall sit by and make coffee for you when you need
it, Maestro.
The extra-terrestrial creature was described as a cross between a gnome and
a famished refugee child: large head, spindly limbs, a lean torso. Is it male or
female? We dont know. What its form basically conveys is a kind of ethereal
innocence, and it is difficult to associate either great evil or great power with
it; yet a feeling of eeriness is there because of the resemblance to a sickly
human child. (Sounds familiar?).
Knowing that a big name or two was required in the cast if money was to
come from Hollywood, Ray thought of casting Peter Sellers as the
businessman Bajoria. He had been impressed with Sellers work in Dr.
Strangelove, and knew that Sellers had already played an Indian in The
Millionairess; having heard Sellers LPs, Ray was confident that he would be
able to pull off an Indian accent. Within minutes of knowing that Ray had
Sellers in mind, Wilson was on a call with Sellers agents enquiring if Sellers
would be interested.

Still in Calcutta, February 1967: The story of The

Alien is ready
The Alien would centre around a small humanoid alien, an extra-terrestrial
looking like the description above which lands its spaceship in a lotus pond
in a village in Bengal. Emerging from the ship, and filled with child-like
curiosity, the alien hops around the village exploring its flora and fauna.
After encountering a boy called Haba, it forms a psychic connection with
him, with both becoming friends in the process.
The villagers wake up the next morning to discover that the paddy has
ripened overnight, the first of many such tricks that the alien plays (none of
which involve chrysanthemums or making them bloom). Haba draws their
attention to a golden spire that has emerged from the waters of the pond, the
tip of the ETs spaceship. The miracle of the ripened paddy convinces the
villagers that the structure in the pond is a submerged temple, and they
promptly start worshipping it. However, a young journalist from Calcutta,
Mohan, living in the village writing about development in rural India, finds
this preposterous. Neither can Joe Devlin, a no-nonsense American engineer
from Montana, who is there on a contract to sink tube-wells.
Devlins employer Bajoria, a wealthy and unprincipled industrialist,
meanwhile sees this as a great opportunity to enhance his image as a
philanthropist. He makes plans to salvage the spire, restore the temple in his
name, and turn it into the greatest place of pilgrimage in India. Bajoria
persuades Devlin to pump out the water from the pond. Later, after a session
of whisky-drinking and hashish-smoking, Devlin bumps into the alien but is
too stoned to comprehend his encounter.
The alien continues its miracles or rather, pranks: making a mango-tree
owned by the meanest villager bear fruit out of season and causing a corpse
to open its eyes while on the funeral pyre. These events convince the
villagers they have been cursed, and that the object in the pond is responsible.
The next morning Devlin and Bajoria, accompanied by Mohan and a salvage
crew, converge on the pond. Devlin swims out to the spaceship, which
suddenly begins to throb, hum and pulsate with light. After he beats a hasty
retreat the spaceship takes off, with the alien, his friend Haba, and various
specimens of earthly flora and fauna on board. The film ends with Mohan
realising he has a story to write and Bajoria, chastened and overcome by the
experience, taking comfort in piety. And Devlin ends up being revered by the
villagers for having saved them from the aliens magic.
Just as the script was ready, word came in that Sellers was in Paris and that
he was interested in the role and would like to meet Ray. So off went Messrs.
Ray & Wilson to meet Peter Sellers, who was basking in the recent success
of Pink Panther.
Rough sketches of The Alien. Illustrations by Satyajit Ray
Paris, April 1967: Inspector Clouseau joins the
party
Sellers knew no French, but spoke Franglais, which had the waiter in
stitches, recalled Ray later in his writing about the whole The Alien saga (see
the sources at the end of this piece). On asking Sellers if he was familiar with
his work at all, Sellers replied in the negative saying that his agent thought
highly of Ray and that was good enough for him. But it wasnt good enough
for Ray.

Wilson swung into action and by next morning a print

of Charulata arrived in Paris for Peter Sellers to watch
On being asked by Ray if he could arrange for a screening of his films,
Wilson swung into action and by next morning a print ofCharulata arrived in
Paris. It was duly screened for Sellers, at the end of which Sellers exclaimed,
Why do you need me? Im not better than your actors, you know! But by
then, Sellers had read the script and agreed to be a part of The Alien. With
Wilson saying that he had to go back to Sri Lanka to check on James Banda,
Ray returned to Calcutta to await further word from Wilson.
And it came a month later, direct from Hollywood.

Hollywood, June 1967: Copyright Mike Wilson

and Satyajit Ray
It was an elated Ray who read the cable from Mike Wilson that said
Columbia Pictures was interested and would back The Alien. Furthermore,
Ray was to have a free hand and both Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen
were keen to play the role of Devlin, the American engineer. The graphics
and design would be done by none other than the legendary Saul Bass
himself. Peter Sellers, meanwhile, was in Hollywood too, shooting for a film
in which he played an Indian (The Party), and anxious to have a second
session with Ray. So Ray landed up in Hollywood, and found himself
straying into in his own words a Carollian Wonderland, starting with his
cottage at the posh Chateau Marmont where hed been booked, something the
frugal Ray found wasteful. Wilson, sensing this, reassured Ray, You cant
afford anything but the best, you know, you made the Apu Trilogy!

Ray was to have a free hand and both Marlon Brando and Steve
McQueen were keen to play the role of Devlin, the American engineer
The first meeting with Sellers happened at famed sitar player Pandit Ravi
Shankars house. Shankar was playing the sitar that day for Sellers benefit,
as Sellers wanted to know how to at least play the instrument on screen
realistically enough for The Party. On the way back, Sellers once again
insisted that he was interested in the film, and the fact that his role would be
smaller didnt matter. This reassurance was perhaps needed, because Ray was
having his doubts if Sellers would be ok with not having a starring role as he
was used to, reminding Sellers that he would have to share the honours with
three others the Bengali journalist, the American engineer, and the wordless
elfin extra-terrestrial creature from outer space.
Sellers didnt seem to outwardly mind, but Ray, after seeing him on the sets
of The Party, started having doubts about whether he was really the right
choice.
The Alien project didnt quite take off as well as Ray expected or rather
didnt take off at all but Columbia was surely interested. The first doubts
started emerging with Columbia executives asking, Did Ray need Mike
Wilson? Who was he? And how did Ray end up teaming with Wilson?
Ray had been asking himself the same questions ever since his friend Marie
Seton had warned him earlier about teaming up with Wilson. But wheeling-
and-dealing was not amongst the many skills in Rays repertoire. So if having
Wilson on board meant that hed get to make The Alien on his terms, so be it,
thought Ray.

Ray had been asking himself the same questions ever since his friend
Marie Seton had warned him earlier about teaming up with Wilson
But the doubts about Wilson were magnified when Ray found a whole stack
of copies in Hollywood of his script for The Alien, bearing the legend,
Copyright Mike Wilson and Satyajit Ray (in that order!). Unbeknownst to
Ray, Wilson had gone ahead and obtained the copyright on Rays script, and
included his name in it. On being confronted with this, Wilson again
reassured Ray saying, Two heads were better than one, Maestro and that
the double copyright was for his (Rays) benefit to make doubly sure his
interests were protected.
Any and all work on The Alien took a backseat as Wilson lived the
Hollywood life, when possible whisking Ray also off to parties, including
one that was held in a mansion that once belonged to Greta Garbo. The
mansion was now owned by Jennifer Jones who wanted to work with Ray,
while her husband, the producer David Selznick, wanted to make an Indian
version of Anna Karenina, in which Ray would play Vronsky opposite his
wife!
Ray met stars and actors of the 40s Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth,
William Wyler, King Vidor, and even his friend Jean Renoir later. A lot of
people, but none of who had anything to do with The Alien. Ray returned to
Calcutta, leaving Hollywood firmly convinced that The Alien was doomed.
Meanwhile, mimeographed copies of The Alien script were in circulation in
Hollywood.

A McGonagallese interlude in Calcutta

Once back in Calcutta, Ray returned to a project hed put on the back-burner
in favour of The Alien, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. But a letter from Peter
Sellers arrived, which rekindled lost hope. It was a letter introducing Ray to
the work of the 19th century Scottish poet, William McGonagall, the
greatest Bad Verse writer of all time. Part of the letter was written in
McGonagallese about what he thought of Pather Pancheli, a movie Sellers
had just seen.
The Alien wasnt dead. Not just yet.

London, October, 1967: A son-et-lumiere to end

all son-et-lumieres
In 1967, Satyajit Ray landed in London in the hopes of meeting Peter Sellers
again. He never would. In the meanwhile, Columbia UK had taken over the
project from Columbia US, Marlon Brando had dropped out and James
Coburn was being looked at as a possibility to play Devlin.
Wilson had already arrived in London a week earlier and set himself up in a
suite at The Hilton, with a separate one booked for Ray. He kept himself to
his rooms, but on the one occasion he ventured into Wilsons suite, Ray
recalled later in an article he wrote for The Statesman, The scene that met
my eye through the pall of smoke could have been a set piece out of
Petronius. The carpet was strewn with bodies, male and female, and
Subbulakshmi sang over the whir of a movie projector and the Bengali
dialogue of what turned out to be a 16 mm print of my own
film Devi; flicking fitfully on a bare wall on one side of the room, a son-et-
lumiere to end all son-et-lumieres.

The scene that met my eye through the pall of smoke could have been a
set piece out of Petronius
By now, Ray was worried more about Mike Wilson sober than Mike Wilson
drunk, as hed started bugging phone calls and carrying around a tape
recorder to record all conversations with Columbia. On the one occasion that
Ray was able to meet an executive from Columbia, he was shocked to find
out that the studio had already made a payment of $10,000 as advance for the
screenplay. It had been accepted on Rays behalf by Wilson, and needless to
say, Ray had seen not a penny of it. Wilson also had set himself up by this
time as an associate producer, even though there was no agreement to this
effect at all.
But anxious to be in Rays good books, Wilson arranged for a special Rolls-
Royce to take Ray to the airport, with a built-in cocktail cabinet specially
commissioned for the journey. Wilson slapped a sheaf of papers on Rays
knees, saying, If you would just sign here, Maestro. Ray refused. Telling
Wilson to send the papers to Calcutta where he could read them, Ray
returned home.

Calcutta, June August, 1968

The papers from Wilson never arrived, but who did arrive was an executive
from Columbia Pictures, with a message that the studio would continue
with The Alien provided that Mike Wilson was no longer a part of it. The
executive wanted Ray to write to Wilson and ask him to pull out. Ray wrote
the letter, only to get a sizzling reply that called Ray a slanderer and a thief.
But what shocked him most was not that but another letter from Peter Sellers
in which he wrote, though the part may appear more or less complete to
you it does not seem to me and I dont see how I could contemplate playing it
as it is.
Dejected, Ray wrote to Sellers, in verse:
Dear Peter, if you had wanted a bigger part,
Why, you should have told me right at the start,
By disclosing it at this juncture
You have surely punctured
The Alien balloon
Which I daresay,
Will now be grounded soon
Causing a great deal of dismay
To Satyajit Ray.
He never got a reply from Sellers.
But that wasnt to be the end of The Alien saga.
Columbia was still interested, but Wilson had to pull out. Seeing no other
alternative, Ray wrote to the one person who could help, Arthur C Clarke.
Outlining what happened, he wrote of the unease that he couldnt reveal to
Wilson, and personal fascination with the sinister turn of events. He
concluded with a heartfelt plea, Im depending a great deal on you
Arthur. Silence ensued.
Meanwhile, mimeographed copies of The Alien script were still circulating in
Hollywood.

Calcutta, October, 1969: Swami Siva Kalki says,

Keep Seetha
Unexpectedly, after almost a year of no activity on the subject, a brief note
arrived from Clarke, informing Ray that Wilson had shaved his head and
gone off to meditate in the jungles of south India.
Soon a letter arrived from Swami Siva Kalki, the name Mike Wilson took
on when he became a monk. In the words of Ray, He was relinquishing his
rights to the screenplay, although obviously too close to sainthood to spell it
out in mundane terms. This is the way he chose to put it. Dear Ravana. You
may keep Seetha. She is yours. Keep her, and make her and the world
happy.
But by then, much water had passed under the Howrah bridge and Ray was
no longer interested in The Alien, disillusioned by the whole experience. But
over the course of the next decade or so, he did continue to think of it as
possible someday, sometime in the future encouraged as he was at frequent
intervals, by people such as Ismail Merchant, Peter Sellersex-agent, by
Columbia, and strangely, even by Swami Siva Kalki!
If it had been made, it would have been a watershed in sci-fi movies not
least because, as Bijoya Ray his wife puts it, Until now, all the films and
stories dealing with aliens portrayed them as evil beings whose sole purpose
in coming to Earth was to hurt it. But in this story, for the first time, an alien
arrives on our planet, to help the world, and not hurt it. That and the Satyajit
Ray magic.
Then in 1982, Steven Spielbergs E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released.
That was when Ray finally gave up any hope of ever making The Alien.
Was Spielbergs E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial inspired by Rays Alien?
Ray, of course, was among the first to note the similarities. Starting with the
startling commonality that E.T. had with Rays concept of the Alien. the
benign nature of the creature, and the fact that it is small and acceptable to
children and possessed of certain superhuman powers not physical
strength.and that it takes interest in earthly things, said Ray.
Another interesting point to note is that E.T. started off as a Columbia
project.
And Ray himself has said that, E.T. would not have been possible without
my script of the Alien being available throughout America in mimeographed
copies.
Another person who noted the striking parallels was Arthur C. Clarke, who
called Ray from Colombo in January 1983, suggesting he write to Spielberg
politely and point out the resemblances. Dont take it lying down, Clarke
said, according to Ray. But Ray was not interested in pursuing the matter
further, saying Artists have better things to do with their time.
When this issue was raised by the press, Spielberg said he was too young to
have been influenced by The Alien script. Whats more, on a visit to Sri
Lanka, Spielberg told Clarke rather indignantly, Tell Satyajit that I was a
kid in high school when his script was circulating in Hollywood. A
statement that according to Andrew Robinson, Rays biographer, does not
really resolve the doubts.
But to at least resolve the doubts about whether Spielberg really was in high
school when Rays mimeographed script was circulating in Hollywood, Star
Weekend Magazine dug up the records and dates. And they reveal that
Spielberg graduated from Saratoga High School in 1965. He would soon end
up working as an unpaid intern at Universal Studios in 1968, just about the
time copies of The Alien were circulating around. That year, 1968, was also
the year Spieberg would direct his first movie for Universal Studio, the short
film, Amblin.
Its an issue that refuses to go away. And as late as 2010, Martin Scorsese
said in an interview, I have no qualms in admitting that Spielbergs E.T. was
influenced by Rays Alien. Even Sir Richard Attenborough pointed this out
to me. Well, there you have it. Or do we?
As Kurt Vonnegut would say, So it goes.
I have pieced together this consolidated saga from various sources, for each
of the individual accounts seem to miss one detail or the other. Of course I
have omitted some things that are extraneous to the subject at hand or
tangential in their detail. But here are the sources that I primarily referred to,
and which you can look up for some additional details: Manik and I: My Life
with Satyajit Ray by Bijoya Ray; Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye by Andrew
Robinson; Rays own article Ordeals of the Alien published in The
Statesman, Calcutta; articles on this subject by Richard Boyle, who is in
possession of Mike Wilsons correspondence with Ray and other
documents. Boyle has said he only postponed indefinitely the publication of
his book, The Wrecking: The Story of Satyajit Rays Ill-Fated Science-Fiction
Film Project, The Alien,because he was advised that some of my vital
comments regarding Spielberg would attract the attention of his rapacious
Hollywood lawyers.
So it goes. But well, thats all for this week on New Worlds Weekly. Hope
you enjoyed what you read above. If you did, let me know. If you didnt
especially if you didnt or have some more nuggets or information to add to
the saga, leave a comment below, or tweet to us with #NWWonFD. Ill see
you again next week, on Friday as usual. Until then, may the force be with
you. Live long and prosper!
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Rays grandfather was Sukumar Ray, who started
the childrens magazine Sandesh. This is wrong, and humourist Sukumar Ray was, in fact, Rays
father. Rays grandfather was Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, who started Sandesh. The error was
introduced while editing and is sincerely regretted.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Ray was writing Professor Shonku stories till the
1990s. This should be 1980s and has now been changed.

Disclosure: FactorDaily is owned by SourceCode Media, which counts Accel Partners, Blume Ventures and Vijay Shekhar
Sharma among its investors. Accel Partners is an early investor in Flipkart. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of Paytm. None
of FactorDailys investors have any influence on its reporting about Indias technology and startup ecosystem.

ET Ray satyajit Ray Spielberg

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