‘Alpha’ Review: Alia Bhatt Delivers The Punches, But The script Doesn’t

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow arrived at a time when superhero blockbusters were still largely a boys’ club at the box office. Marvel handed the reins to one of the world’s biggest female stars and bet that audiences would show up.

YRF’s “Alpha” makes a similar gamble, placing the future of its female-led spy film squarely on the shoulders of Alia Bhatt and Sharvari. One is already a proven force. The other is steadily finding her footing. The premise was exciting. In a universe populated by Pathaan, Tiger and Kabir, two women were to step in to claim their place. The question is whether “Alpha” earns its stripes or simply borrows them.

The film begins on a promising note. A mysterious serum called Alpha, backed by the army to dramatically enhance a soldier’s physical and mental strength. In the wrong hands, it is a weapon against the country. The danger is compounded by the fact that the enemy is hiding in plain sight, buried within India’s own intelligence and defense network. Alia Bhatt and Sharvari play twin sisters with a troubled past who are forced to reunite against a common enemy. Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol bring gravitas as senior operatives caught in a web of shifting loyalties. Allies become adversaries, bullets replace handshakes and national security hangs in the balance.

On paper, it has all the ingredients of an engaging spy thriller. In execution, it fails.

Action is the lifeblood of a thriller. More importantly, a spy-action demands invention. Audiences have already seen every slow-motion kick, every gravity-defying somersault and every warehouse shootout imaginable. The challenge is to surprise them and keep them engaged. Shiv Rawail’s “Alpha” doesn’t quite manage that. Most of the action feels borrowed from an earlier era. The hand-to-hand combat, chase sequences and weapon choreography all carry a persistent sense of “been there, seen that.”
 

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That could have been forgiven had the emotional quotient landed between the siblings or the father-daughter. Instead, the screenplay struggles to give the protagonists compelling stories. There is a whole lot of talking, and very little of it makes sense. The film tells us these women carry emotional scars but rarely allows us to feel their weight. Without that emotional anchor, the spectacle feels mechanical.

The dialogues do little to help. Spies are expected to be composed and emotionally guarded. Here, they sound like they wandered in from an ’80s action movie. Much of the writing is overloaded with familiar one-liners that mistake volume for impact. Alia’s Sita munches french fries and desi noodles in an obvious attempt to manufacture quirk, but the character doesn’t feel lived-in. Bobby Deol’s Haryanvi accent fluctuates as much as the film’s momentum. The songs feel parachuted into the narrative, with Sharvari’s introductory number resembling an expensive footwear advertisement more than a character introduction. Close your eyes during the background score, and it could belong to almost any other YRF spy film.

Then comes the now obligatory crossover cameo. Hrithik Roshan’s Kabir makes an appearance, but the franchise high that these moments once delivered has started showing diminishing returns. Familiarity, in this case, breeds indifference.

For a film positioned as the YRF Spy Universe’s first female-led outing, it also makes some curious choices. When the bullets start flying, it is Anil Kapoor first, and later Kabir, who ask the women to retreat while the men hold the fort. It is an odd instinct for a film supposedly celebrating women taking charge.

Alia Bhatt gives it everything she has. There is visible commitment in every punch, sprint and stare. Bobby Deol remains reliably effective with his understated menace. Anil Kapoor delivers exactly what you expect from him, no surprises there. Sharvari gets reduced to the chirpy, giggling sidekick that Hindi cinema still seems unwilling to retire.

Alpha isn’t a bad idea. It is a good idea trapped inside an old screenplay. The women finally get a seat at the YRF spy table, but they are handed leftovers instead of a feast. The franchise needed a film that rewrote the rules. Instead, it settles for repeating them.

And that’s the biggest irony of Alpha. It wants to prove that the future of the spy universe is female. It just forgets to give its women a film worthy of leading it.