Alpha Review: A Verbose Spy Spectacle That Mistakes Scale For Substance
The promise of Alpha was undeniably exciting. A female-led chapter in the ever-expanding YRF Spy Universe sounded like the franchise’s opportunity to redefine its own grammar.
After years of celebrating larger-than-life male spies, the spotlight was finally shifting to women who could command the battlefield with equal authority. With Alia Bhatt and Sharvari leading the charge, expectations naturally soared.
What arrives instead is a film that looks expensive, moves quickly, explodes frequently, but rarely finds an emotional or narrative pulse beneath all the spectacle.
Directed by Shiv Rawail in his feature debut, Alpha possesses all the visual trademarks audiences associate with the YRF Spy Universe: international locations, military installations, helicopters slicing through mountain skies, elaborate action choreography, sophisticated gadgets and globe-trotting espionage.
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Yet, its polished exterior hides a surprisingly familiar story, one that struggles to justify its own ambition.
(Spoiler Alert)
Sita’s (Alia Bhatt) world begins to fracture when she discovers uncomfortable truths about her origins, forcing her to confront the people who shaped her life and reconnect with a sister she never truly knew.
Family becomes the emotional backbone of the narrative, or at least it attempts to. The film repeatedly returns to questions of identity, belonging and stolen childhoods.
These are rich themes capable of elevating an action thriller beyond explosions and fistfights. Unfortunately, the screenplay rarely pauses long enough to explore them.
Instead of allowing these emotional discoveries to breathe, the film keeps rushing toward its next set piece, leaving character development feeling abbreviated and superficial.
There is a noticeable physical commitment in Alia Bhatt’s performance.
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Every sprint, every hand-to-hand combat sequence and every carefully choreographed fight suggests extensive preparation.
Interestingly, Alpha also creates an unexpected thematic echo of her earlier spy thriller Jigra. In that film, her character risked everything to protect her brother and family while carrying the unbearable burden of secrecy.
Here, the emotional direction changes. Instead of rescuing a sibling, Alpha spends much of the narrative attempting to reconnect with her estranged sister and reveal the truth about their shared past.
The emotional architecture is different, yet both films revolve around sacrifice, fractured families and women navigating impossible circumstances in service of something larger than themselves.
Durga (Sharvari) enters the film with tremendous goodwill after delivering one of the year’s most appreciated performances elsewhere. Here, however, the writing never fully unlocks her potential.
The contrast between Sita’s militaristic upbringing and her sister’s comparatively carefree lifestyle is understandable in theory.
But the screenplay reduces this contrast into broad visual shorthand rather than layered characterisation.
As the film progresses, Sharvari gradually finds greater purpose and shares several engaging action sequences with Alia. Their growing partnership becomes one of the stronger aspects of the second half, yet one cannot help feeling that the relationship deserved greater emotional complexity.
Action has always been the YRF Spy Universe’s strongest currency, and Alpha largely maintains that reputation.
Several combat sequences display impressive choreography and kinetic energy. The physical confrontations feel grounded enough to remain engaging while still embracing blockbuster spectacle.
The cinematography makes excellent use of Kashmir’s valleys, Ladakh’s stark landscapes, Rajasthan’s vast expanses and several international locations. The production design consistently reinforces the franchise’s glossy identity.
However, the screenplay repeatedly undermines these strengths.
The narrative follows familiar espionage patterns involving military conspiracies, rogue operations, hidden laboratories, national security threats, betrayals within intelligence agencies and cross-border tensions. None of these elements is inherently problematic, but they are presented with very little novelty.
Alpha wants to position women at the centre of an action franchise traditionally dominated by men. It presents physically formidable female operatives capable of surviving impossible missions and defeating heavily armed enemies.
Yet despite this apparent shift, the visual language continues to frame its female protagonists through conventional commercial aesthetics.
Stylish costume choices, glamorous song sequences and carefully choreographed glamour shots frequently interrupt the narrative rhythm. The women remain powerful, unquestionably competent and physically dominant in combat, but the camera occasionally appears more interested in preserving spectacle than simply observing capability.
The film repeatedly insists that these women have agency, yet the storytelling often surrounds them with familiar blockbuster conventions that soften the very radicalism the premise initially promises.
As a result, the revolutionary idea of a female-led spy universe sometimes feels less transformative than expected.
Bobby Deol continues his impressive resurgence with another restrained performance. He speaks sparingly but projects authority through presence alone. His character’s ideological certainty gives the conflict genuine weight.
Anil Kapoor brings his characteristic professionalism to the role of the RAW chief. While the character itself remains somewhat underwritten, he manages to inject gravitas into scenes that might otherwise have passed unnoticed.
Hrithik Roshan’s cameo feels more symbolic than essential.
One of the film’s biggest talking points before release was Hrithik Roshan’s appearance as Major Kabir Dhaliwal.
His entrance certainly generates excitement inside the theatre. Fans of the YRF Spy Universe will appreciate seeing one of its most iconic figures return, and the action sequence involving Kabir is competently staged.
The biggest problem is the second half. The emotional revelations arrive predictably, narrative momentum begins to slow, and the screenplay increasingly relies upon familiar franchise formulas instead of trusting its own central relationships.
Despite escalating action, the dramatic stakes somehow feel smaller.
By the climax, the film appears more interested in connecting itself to future installments than delivering a deeply satisfying conclusion to the story it began.
Alpha gives its women the guns, the grit and the glory, yet frames them through the same glossy blockbuster lens it set out to outgrow. Beneath the polished action lies a surprisingly conventional spy thriller that mistakes scale for substance.
Timeline Verdict:
Settles for recycling the familiar YRF formula with little emotional or narrative reward.
Rating: 2|5
Cast:
Alia Bhatt
Sharvari
Anil Kapoor
Bobby Deol
Hrithik Roshan (Special Cameo)
Dia Mirza (Special Appearance)
Crew:
Director: Shiv Rawail
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Story: Uday Chopra
Screenplay: Soumil Shukla, Shridhar Raghavan
Production House: Yash Raj Films
Cinematography: Rubais
Music: Rohansh & Abeer Pandit
