Close encounters with native E.T. finally real

KOLKATA: Did E.T first come to India? And was his first terrestrial friend a young Indian village boy called Habu?
Several years before Steven Spielberg gave the world Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., Satyajit Ray had penned a story that had the basic elements of these sci-fi blockbusters - human contact with an alien. Bankubabur Bandhu was not only the first short story by Ray, it was also the basis for his ill-fated script, The Alien.The script could never make it to celluloid, but Bankubabur Bandhu is about to hit the small screen.
The master director''s son, Sandip Ray, has almost completed the shooting for Bankubabur Bandhu. The plot revolves around Bankubabu who meets an alien in a bamboo grove. "Eighty per cent of the shooting for the film is complete. It is slated for screening on Doordarshan in end-June or early July," says Sandip Ray. The two-part short film has no stars. Bankubabu will be played by Samaresh Bandyopadhyay, theatre personality and contemporary of Utpal Dutt.
The filming of Bankubabur Bandhu will probably go some way in showcasing Ray''s remarkable story which spawned several Hollywood hits. But it will hardly compensate for the ill luck that plagued The Alien, where a playful alien establishes contact with a young village lad named Haba. The chequered history of the script itself is probably worth a film.
Ray had first been encouraged to make The Alien by sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. But during his lifetime, Ray could not film. In 1967, he went to Hollywood to clinch a deal with Columbia. The comedian, Peter Sellers, had agreed to play the part of an Indian businessman in the film. Later that year, a production man from Columbia came to Kolkata and along with Ray''s assistants scouted for sites in Bankura and Birbhum.
All the efforts, unfortunately, came to nought and Ray soon gave up any hopes of making The Alien. But mimeographed copies of the script found its way to the US and films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. had remarkable parallels to Ray''s story. Spielberg, however, has always denied having seen the script of The Alien.
While The Alien never did see the light of day, it is some consolation to Ray fans that Bankubabur Bandhu, which first appeared in Sandesh, will bring to the screen the director''s beloved extra-terrestrial.