Shilpa Shetty to go bald

January 15th, 2009

Shilpa Shetty's long and luscious tresses may soon go. Buzz is that she will soon go the Shabana-Nandita way. The two actresses had shaved off their hair for Deepa Mehta's Water. It's another matter that 'Water' never got made with them. Shilpa will start shooting for her most challenging role in Malayalam director, R Sarath's English language film 'Desire' this week. Apparently a part of the film requires her to shave off her hair.

When we check with Shilpa, she laughs and says, "I can't reveal everything about my role. If I tell you everything now why would you watch the film? But yes, this is by far the most challenging role of my career. It takes me through ten turbulent years of my character's life. It's a very intense love story between me and my Chinese co-star, Xia Yu."

Shilpa hasn't met Xia Yu yet. "Our shooting starts this week in Kerala. Then we shoot in Kuala Lampur." Apparently permission to shoot the film in China was denied.

What Shilpa really liked about the role is that it allowed her to learn Odissi. "I have been a Bharatnatyam dancer all my life. In 'Desire' I play an Odissi dancer, and I had to unlearn everything I knew about the classical dance and start from scratch. It has been quite a daunting experience."

Akshay Kumar dumps Star Screen Award, says Aamir Khan deserved it

January 15th, 2009

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, who never received any 'Best Actor Award' during his 20-year-old film career, has shocked everyone yesterday night by refusing to accept the Star Screen Award for 'Most Popular Actor'. Akshay said that he did not deserve the award and admitted that only Aamir Khan deserved the award for his rocking performance in the blockbuster, "Ghajini".


Akshay Kumar was nominated for his film "Singh is Kinng", but he declined the award saying he had recently seen Ghajini and firmly believe that Aamir Khan should be the unanimous choice to receive the honour.

Akshay Kumar's rare gesture, has drew a lot of praise and appreciation from the critics and Bollywood fans. His action will set the tone for his forthcoming movie "From Chandi Chowk to China".

Interview : Gul Panag

Gul Panag has enjoyed an eventful year in 2008. Whether it is her entire new chic look or critical acclaim coming her way in SUMMER 2007 or commercial success in HELLO or the much seen and appreciated TATA SKY PLUS commercial with Aamir Khan or the dare-bare shoot for MAXIM that saw her in a hot new avtar - Gul has stayed in news for all the right reasons in the year gone by. No wonder, with the shooting of her next film with none other than Ram Gopal Varma - RANN - looking at kick starting in early 2009, Gul is grinning from ear to ear and looking at far more interesting times when it comes to her Bollywood career.

Gul, you have been on the scene for last so many years. Still, has 2008 been your best ever when it comes to your Bollywood career?
Absolutely yes. I couldn't have asked for a better year. SUMMER 2007 got me critical acclaim and it was a film that was very close to my heart. It failed at the box office because it saw a disastrous release. If released better it could have done better business. Still, the silver lining was the fact that all critics were unanimous about my performance and liked my work. I am glad I could appeal to all kind of audiences.

But wasn't it heart breaking to see your film being treated so badly from the release perspective?
Of course it was heart breaking when the film didn't bring in cash. The day show timings came out for the film, I had the feeling that the film would flop. We didn't get the right show timings at prominent multiplexes. But alas, none of us could do anything about it.

And then came HELLO.
[Laughs] And it was so funny sometimes since there were lot of false calls around its release. We would hear one day that it was arriving soon and then suddenly the plans would be postponed for a few weeks. This was a film which was not for the critics though. The reviews were bad all over but still the film managed to do decent business at the box office. My performance was appreciated by one and all and I am extremely grateful that the film did work eventually. I am very fortunate and God has been extremely kind.

Now comes RANN which in real terms is a true blue multi starrer. Big B, Paresh Rawal, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Rajat Kapoor, Manisha Koirala - its one powerful list. And then there is Gul Panag. How does she stand out?
[Smiles] I guess that's the beauty of working with RGV. He does justice to each of his characters and there is nothing big or small. He justifies the presence of a character into the script and has the capability of making sure that each of them stands out. I am sure I too will!

January 15th, 2009

The vivacious Preity Zinta is the latest Bollywood actor to move onto the small screen to substitute her tumbling career in a subtle manner.

The actor has joined a string of stars by giving her nod to appear on a reality talent hunt.

According to reports, when ‘Colors’ channel approached Preity, she made it very clear that she would only do something which was a little different in comparison to the current shows. Colors, which has done extremely well in the past by roping in numerous stars like Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Sushmita Sen, assured Preity that the concept was indeed different and the babe agreed.

The reality show will reportedly be a talent hunt where all the contestants will be performing with their respective talents, be it dancing, singing, stand-up, comedy acts or anything else.

Insiders suggest that pretty Preity was offered a hefty amount to be a part of the show. Going by the downslide that has overshadowed Zinta’s career of late, the chick has surely done the right thing by jumping onto the small screen.

Amrita Out and Minissha In

January 15th, 2009

Word around town was that cinematic genius Shyam Benegal had once again approached Amrita Rao after Welcome to Sajjanpur to play the lead in his next venture and that Amrita had refused Mr. Benegal. Now that does sound like an absolute death wish for an actress to reject a director like Shyam Benegal, but we are glad to report that our very smart Amrita did no such thing. On the contrary, she thinks of Welcome To Sajjanpur as the highest point in her career and wouldn't do such a thing to Mr. Benegal even in her dreams. What the news headlines had not captured was that it was in fact Minissha Lamba who was offered the role in the first place and not Amrita. Minissha being the clever young lady she is jumped at the opportunity of a lifetime and is now on board this prestigious project titled Abba Ka Kua.

Well Minissha fans, looks like the girl is on an ultimate high. After finally making a mark in main stream cinema with Bachna Ae Haseeno and the not so successful Kidnap, things are finally lighting up for the talented girl and we simply couldn't be happier!

Nokia 15th Annual STAR Screen Awards Red Carpet

January 15th, 2009

The Nokia 15th (is it 15th) Annual Star Screen Awards is the first Awards ceremony in India in the year 2009. The biggest night for honoring excellence in cinema is here and the film fraternity is all set to celebrate it in grand style. The Nokia 15th Annual Star Screen Awards commemorates and rewards the people behind putting the biggest and the most remarkable pieces of cinematic entertainment in the year 2008. This will be aired exclusively on India’s leading Hindi General Entertainment Channel, Star Plus on January 25 at….pm. The hosts for the evening are Farah Khan, Sajid Khan & Shreyas Talpade.

The Red Carpet is decked up to witness the most spectacular Awards nite. This year, the Red Carpet is designed as a Box Office Hall of Fame. All the stars walked the RED Carpet before the inauguration of the final awards night. The red carpet had the entire film fraternity grace it including Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Prateek Babbar, Tushar Kapoor, Jitendra, Bipasha Basu, Mughda Godse, Kangna Ranaut, Sonali Kulkarna, Tanushree Dutta, Koena Mitra, Anupam & Kiron Kher, Genellia D’Souze, Asin, Katrina Kaif, Hard Kaur, Zayed Khan, Rakhi Sawant, Prachi Desai, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai, Gul Panag, Jimmy Shergil, Amir Bashir and Sahana Goswami, Chunky and Bhavna Pandey to name a few.

Full List of Winners

Best Film
Jodhaa Akbar

Best Director
Ashutosh Gowarikar - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Actor (Male)
Hrithik Roshan - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Actor (Female)
Priyanka Chopra – Fashion

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
Arjun Rampal - Rock On

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)
Shahana Goswami - Rock On

Best Actor in a Negative Role (Male/Female)
Akshaye Khanna – Race

Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/Female)
Tusshar Kapoor - Golmaal Returns

Best Music
A. R. Rahman - Jodhaa Akbar

Best Playback Singer (Male)
KK - Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)

Best Playback Singer (Female)
Shilpa Rao - Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)

Best Lyrics
Anvita Dutt Guptan - Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)

Most Promising Newcomer (Male)
Farhan Akhtar - Rock On

Most Promising Newcomer (Female)
Asin Thottumkal – Ghajini

Best Story
Neeraj Pandey - A Wednesday!

Best Screenplay
Shiraz Ahmed – Race

Best Popular Actor Award
Akshay Kumar - Singh Is Kinng

Lifetime Achievement Award
Sanjay Khan

Poonam Dhillon makes a comeback to Silver Screen

January 15th, 2009

It is learnt that ex-Miss India Poonam Dhillon will be making her comeback in Anurag Singh directed Yash Raj film playing Shahid Kapoor’s mom. It can be recalled that Poonam originally hailing from Chandigarh was a Yash Chopra discovery debuting in Trishul (1978). The yet untitled Yash Raj film stars Rani Mukerji in the lead and has cricket as its central theme.

Despite several attempts, while Poonam refused to comment, we got to know from her close friend that she was first slated to make a comeback with Anees Bazmee’s romantic comedy Its My Life playing Harman Baweja’s mom. But she opted out of the film at the last minute on understanding her role wasn’t that important. But soon she got an offer from Yash Raj and she just could not say a NO to her former mentor. It is also learnt that Poonam now wants to take up acting seriously and has also started shooting for a Tamil film.

Poonam was last seen in Boney Kapoor’s Judaai in a special appearance as Sreedevi’s friend.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fails to impress Big B

January 15th, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire’ might be a big Golden-Globe winning movie and an Oscar hopeful but the biggest superstar in the country isn’t so impressed with it.

The movie based in Mumbai won four Golden Globe awards on Sunday, including one for music composer A R Rahman, a first for an Indian.

But Big B has other views about the film.

He says that the rags-to-riches tale of an orphan from a Mumbai slum didn’t impress him as it portrayed India as a “Third World dirty underbelly developing nation”.

Big B has written on his blog- “It’s just that the SM (Slumdog Millionaire) idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not,”

“If the movie projects India as a third world dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations.”

“Conditions world over are so similar. Perceptions differ, but the reality of life and existence, unchanged. Comments for the film Slumdog Millionaire and the anger by some on its contents, prompt me to say the above.”

‘The commercial escapist world of Indian cinema has vociferously battled for years, on the attention paid and adulation given to legendary Satyajit Ray at all prestigious film festivals of the West and not a word of appreciation for the entertaining mass-oriented box office blockbusters that were being churned out from Mumbai.”

“The argument: Ray portrayed reality. The other escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing. Unimpressive for Cannes, Berlin and Venice. But look at how rapidly all that is changing.”

But Irrfan Khan, a cast member who plays a police inspector in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, has rejected criticism of that kind.

He says, “If anyone has any objection to the depiction of poverty in the film they should first come forward and take initiative to remove it. Only talking won’t help.We can not shut our eyes from the fact that a large section of our country continues to live abject poverty which can not be removed by not being shown in a film. We need to work on grass-root level to remove this problem.”

We wonder if Big B takes offense to a statement like that. Hope he doesn’t as every actor has full right to defend his movie and we fully trust the judgment of an actor of Irrfan’s calibre

SRK and Aamir won’t share screen space in Luck By Chance

January 15th, 2009

Not many are aware that both Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan are making an appearance in Zoya Akhtar’s directorial debut Luck By Chance starring Zoya’s brother Farhan Akhtar in the main lead. But our source who has managed to have a sneak peak of the film has confirmed to us that both the Khans don’t share screen space at all and appear at different times individually in the film. The film has the Hindi film industry as the back drop with Farhan playing a struggling Bollywood actor. Our source further adds that both Aamir and the King Khan play themselves in the film. Their fans have missed the opportunity to see them together this time and it is definitely going to be a long wait for their fans to see them together again what with the two Khans being on an undeclared war against each other passing taunts against each other.

It can be recalled that the only time Aamir and SRK have shared screen space has been for a few minutes in the opening sequence of Ashutosh Gowariker’s directorial debut, Pehla Nasha. Even in that film, they played themselves and that film too had the main lead, Deepak Tijori playing a struggling actor.

When SRK was shooting the song sequence with 32 actors for his Om Shanti Om he wanted Aamir too to be a part of it but after keeping him waiting for over a month, Aamir finally declined to participate.

Has Kareena Kapoor broken up with Saif

January 15th, 2009

Post the success of ‘Jab We Met’, Kareena Kapoor has been all over the place.

Her relationship with Chotey Nawab Saif Ali Khan and the fact that they were seen joint at the hip at loads of places also made sure that it was so.

Shoots and social gatherings kept her in the news, but the movie for which she developed her size zero frame-’Tashan’ flopped badly.

Only the Diwali release ‘Gomaal Returns’ made money but then the credit for the same doesn’t go to her fully.

After all, it was a multi-starer with a lot of boy bonding.

This sort of depressed the actress who thought that her career is going downhill and that’s why she’s decided to make her high profile relationship low profile now.

In the New Year she’s realized that being in the media glare all the time with Saif is harming her.

So she’s decided to play it safe and is not breaking up completely. Instead she’s keeping her private life away from the media.

Well, it seems Kareena has realized what was needed to be realized. Let’s see if this strategy actually helps her out in the long run or not.

Sunny Deol parts ways with Neeraj Pathak?

January 15th, 2009

There has been a strong buzz that writer-director Neeraj Pathak who is also the co-director of The Man and the Deol’s who have been together for the last few years have now parted ways. Sources inform that some creative differences were the reason for the break up.

Neeraj Pathak got associated with the Deols during the making of Apne. Neeraj has been writing the scripts for the Deols and had become very close to the family. However after the differences cropped up there our sources wonder if Neeraj’s name will appear on the credit titles of the film.

When contacted director Neeraj laughed and said “Yes I heard about it. These are all baseless rumors. In fact, I have been shooting with Sunny Deol and Shilpa Shetty for The Man at Whistling Woods for the last two days. I will be wrapping up the shoot today. In fact Sunny was also surprised on hearing the news. Sunny even commented that when two people come close in Bollywood people try to create differences between them.”

The director further adds, “In fact I am doing another film with the Deol’s now. It will be a beautiful comedy, action. I will be producing and directing the film. We are in the scripting stages right now and plan to start the film as soon as we wrap up The Man.

Serial Kisser Emraan Hashmi romances with Soha in Tum Milein

January 15th, 2009

Jannat fame Kunal Deshmukh will have an unusual pair Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan in his forthcoming film. Titled as Tum Milein, is a love story. It has backdrop of Mumbai floods.

According to the director Kunal Deshmukh the story has been inspired by the floods happened on July 26, 2005. He says, “Yes my forthcoming film is based on Mumbai floods that affected life in Mumbai. I will be shooting it in Mumbai and Cape Town as these two main protagonists’ moves from Cape Town to Mumbai. We are planning to erect a huge set in Mumbai itself to shoot flood portions. Our first schedule will commence in mid-November in Cape Town.”

Speaking about this unusual casting he says, “Yeah. After Jannat once again I wanted to work with Emraan. He is very talented and dedicated actor. While Soha is very apt for this role as she is very close to her character. She was my first choice. Apart from all that Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan haven’t paired before so that’s USP of my film.” He signs off.

Darsheel Safary turns choreographer

January 15th, 2009

He amazed everyone by his outstanding performance in his debut film Taare Zameen Par. And he continues to surprise everyone on the sets of his second film Bum Bum Bhole. Apparently he taught dancing steps to his co star Atul Kulkarni who was finding quite difficult to perform.

Filmmaker Priyadarshan is shooting in Ooty for his forthcoming film BBB. According to a unit hand Atul Kulkarni who plays Darsheel’s father in the film had to dance in the song which they are shooting in Ooty but he was finding tough to do it. However Darsheel who is a student of Shamak Davar’s dancing school took charge of teaching him. He taught those steps to Atul and after some rehearsal Atul gave the shots right.

Well that was quite impressive by 12 years old Darsheel. Reportedly Bum Bum Bhole is an adaptation of the hit Iranian film ‘Children of Heaven’. It also stars Rituparna Sengupta who plays Darsheel’s mother while Hijack fame Kaveri Jha is plying Atul Kulkarni’s sister. It is believed that the film runs on two parallels, one that deals with Darsheel and his faith in God, while the second is about the relationship between Kaveri and Atul.

Shahid gets close to Vidya Balan again

January 15th, 2009

Shahid Kapur has been dilly-dallying with his love life for a while now.

After his breakup with Kareena Kapoor, there was a buzz that he was close to Amrita Rao, then Vidya Balan, followed by Sania Mirza and Priyanka Chopra.

Some said that he was close to Priyanka now but it seems his friendship with ‘Kismet Konnection’ co-star Vidya Balan is still going strong too.

Shahid was seen with the much mature looking Vidya at Aurus, a Juhu lounge bar in Mumbai recently.

When both came to Aurus, the table was already booked on Shahid’s name, as he had made the reservation himself.

He was dressed in a brown jacket and dark blue jeans and black shoes. Shahid arrived on his sports bike and Vidya came in her car wearing a yellow suit.

The table was away from the common area.

A source has said, “Shahid and Vidya have had been out for dinners in the past but with common friend designer Shabina Khan and others. However, this was the first time they were spotted having dinner all by themselves”.

It’s been said that they ordered dinner with dessert.

They didn’t seem to be in a rush and stayed on till very late in the night.

The buzz is that Tabu was sitting a few tables away from them. She apparently noticed the duo but did not go to join them. Basically Shahid and Vidya enjoyed each others company without a care in the world.

Post his break up, Shahid sure has been having an interesting love life. We wonder what the next twist is going to be.

What’s the big deal in skin show of Maxim? - Neetu Chandra

January 15th, 2009

Now who’s that girl? That’s a question on everyone’s lips ever since Neetu Chandra decided to don a new avatar beginning 2009. She has made sure that the winter of 2009 begins on a RED HOT note with the dare bare shoot that she has just done for the magazine MAXIM. Never ceasing to surprise month after month, Neetu Chandra shows the other side of herself (well literally!) as she confidently poses for the camera in a never seen before avatar. From the track suits and sarees of her last release ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’, she has come up with some absolutely stunning poses for the magazine Maxim.

Answer this honestly, when you entered the industry, were you willing to get into such dare-bare mode?
I don’t know why am I asked this question repeatedly? Even in my first film ‘Garam Masala’, Priyadarshan chose me over the the other two girls for wearing a swimming costume. He asked all of us to get into the costume and did the look test. After that he gave me a go ahead to wear it for a song shoot. When I could do that 3 years back, what’s the big deal in doing it today?

Weren’t you worried about how your family back there would react after they see you in this new dare-n-bare skin show avatar?
In fact I didn’t even have to inform them before I posed for the camera. My mom and everyone else in the family blindly trust me and always say that whatever you would do, it would only be after giving it some good thought. When your parents and people close to you say something like that, you become even more conscious. You end up saying to yourself that ‘I don’t have to take any wrong step that would disappoint them’.

Reputation of the magazine would have played a major role in going ahead with the shoot, right?
Yes, it did play a big role in it. Maxim is known to be a sensuous magazine. People out there are quite chilled out and I didn’t see any hassles in walking in for the shoot.

So is Neetu going to be a hot siren in future films?
Siren may be a too big a word but yes, in Vipul Shah’s next film as a producer, I do play a hot-n-sexy girl.

Apart from Vipul Shah’s film, in 2009 Neetu Chandra will also be seen in ‘Flat No. 13B’ and ‘Ksarprasad Ka Bhoot’.

Caravan-E-Ghazal by Talat Aziz

January 15th, 2009

Saregama India Ltd, India’s foremost music company launched its new album “Caravan-E-Ghazal” at St. Andrews Auditorium, Mumbai.

The event was attended by an august gathering of eminent artistes, journalists and dignitaries.

Speaking at the launch of his album Talat Aziz said “This album is a culmination of a lot of love and hard work. I have tried to keep the compositions traditional keeping the great poets of Urdu and their poetry in mind, yet embellished the music with contemporary treatment. I was greatly helped in this by Jeetu Shankar who has arranged the music. And the highlight is the ghazal Sonu Niigaam has sung with me adding a new dimension to this album. I pray that everyone who listens to it likes it and hope that apart from the traditional lovers of the ghazal we manage to rope in new listeners to this CARAVAN .”

Sonu Niigaam, who has partnered with Talat Aziz for one of the tracks in the album shared his experience while recording the album and said, “I always wanted to sing ghazals, and ever since I got to know Talatji, it’s been my privilage to work with him.”

Atul Churamani, Vice President – Saregama India Limited said “It’s an honour for us to be associated with this project. There is a dire need for music today to have good poetry and “Caravan-E-Ghazal” is the epitome of that. It is the work of nine of the greatest poets set to some memorable music by Talat. The track with Sonu Niigaam ‘Qurbaton Mein Bhi…’ is the icing on the cake.”

Caravan-E-Ghazal is an anthology of Ghazals, which weaves together a selection from master poets of the Urdu language. An insightful selection, it puts in perspective the evolution of this extremely popular form for our contemporary audiences/listeners. The compositions and music has embellished this unique album with a rare ability to relate with the uninitiated new enthusiasts of Ghazal listeners as well as provide the connoisseur of Urdu poetry with a modern musical interpretation of the great Masters.

Talat Aziz has specially composed these ghazals in a way that transports the listeners into a melodious world.

Subhash Ghai and Anurag Sinha get standing ovation at PIFF

January 15th, 2009

Subhash Ghai was overwhelmed when his film ‘ Black n White’ got a standing ovation after the screening at E-Square at the Pune International Film festiaval on the 10th Jan 09.

Many of the film delegates from all over the world expressed their full admiration for the bold and thoughtful subject on terrorism dealt by Subhash Ghai. ‘Its a universal subject of today and deserves to be seen by every nation ; said an Israeli director at the festival. The Chairman of International film festival, Suresh Kalmadi during the press conference on 11th Jan said..” This is the finest hindi film I have seen after a very long time which has so much to say to the young ones and Subhash Ghai deserves all the kudos …! Jabbar Patel, the director of film festival spoke very highly about the new actor Anuraag Sinha the lead actor of the film and said “We can see a huge star of tomorrow here after watching his outstanding performance in ‘Black n White’.”

It was a press conference on ‘CINEMA N TERRORISM “where Mr Ghai talked about that how cinema can mobilize the thinking of hard liners.”

Deepika Padukone - Yahoo India Most Searched

January 15th, 2009

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has emerged the most searched celebrity on Yahoo India search. Indian Railways and the Sixth Pay Commission are other hot searches on Yahoo India during 2008.

Deepika was also ranked first among the top people searches, along with Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai.

Priyanka and Harman - Did They Really Split ?

January 15th, 2009

According to highly placed sources, Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja has finally split. The pair had differences in couple of issues in the past and they ultimately result in break-up and have decided to stay friends.

The couple even celebrated New Year bash individually. Priyanka chose to be in Manali with her family for the New Year, while Harman brought it in with friends.

According to India Times report, Priyanka and Harman both remained unavailable for comment.

January 15th, 2009

The trailer of Arya’s upcoming Sarvam was officially released yesterday and also screened in many theatres.

Vishnu Vardhan is making Sarvam for Ayngaran International. Arya does the maile lead and Trisha does the female lead .
Vishnu’s Sarvam has his regular technical team of cameraman Nirav Shah, editor Sreekar Prasad, and music director Yuvan Shankar Raja.

K J Yesudas Musical Campaign “Music For Peace” - Sangeetha Yatra

January 15th, 2009

Singer K.J. Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto “Music For Peace“.

He started “Music For Peace” in the presence of Kavita Karkare, widow of Maharashta Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Kavita Karkare handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the ‘Sangeetha Yatra‘.

Sangeetha Yatra will cover major cities, including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. As a part of his musical campaign, Yesudas will hold music programmes in various centres in Kerala.