Balaji Imperial was a brand of cigarettes in the 22nd century. Balaji Imperial cigarettes were smoked by members of the crew of the USCSS Nostromo. Navigator Joan Lambert kept a packet at her station on the bridge of the vessel. During the dinner where Gilbert Kane was killed by an alien creature bursting from his chest, a packet of Balaji Imperial was on the table. Kane ended up crushing the box by laying on it during his death throes.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The name of the cigarettes is a reference to Bolaji Badejo, the actor who played the alien in the film. "Balaji" is a combination of "Ba", from his last name, and "laji", from his first name. According to Ivor Powell, Alien's associate producer: "Given that Balaji is the Christian name of the guy that played the Alien, I reckon that it could be a kind of in-joke between Art dept and Ridley [Scott]. However, it looks like a close-up/insert shot and I wonder when it was shot, because I only discovered Balaji during the main unit shooting and given that we shot the command module/cockpit sequences right at the beginning of the main unit schedule – then nobody would have heard of Balaji at that point. Maybe we shot this insert after main unit shooting had finished – but I don’t remember doing it."[2] According to Ridley Scott, Alien's director, "In the cockpit, there’s a pack of cigarettes that says ‘Bolaji.’"[3]
The image showing Kane's Gitanes from the Japanese Alien program.
It is believed that the base of Lambert's Balaji packaging and the cigarettes themselves were French Gitanes "papier maïs" cigarettes. In the Japanese Alien program, a picture shows a pack of Gitanes cigarettes on Gilbert Kane's bridge station, but the pack is never seen in the film.
Appearances[]
- Alien (First appearance)