Alpha Review: Alia Bhatt, Sharvari Starrer Spy Film Lacks Thrill, Sense, And Strong Female Characters!
Alpha starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari is directed by Shiv Rawail. Read our review here.
1.5 / 5
We expected a strong female spy character from YRF’s first female spy-led thriller, but it looks like the joke was on us! The Alia Bhatt and Sharvari starrer Alpha has finally hit theatres, and the plot has left me wondering, how difficult is it to write a female spy character that’s equally exciting as a Kabir or Tiger from the same universe? Shiv Rawail directs Alpha, which also stars Bobby Deol and Anil Kapoor in pivotal roles. Read the review if you plan to watch it!
Alpha’s Plot
The film kicks off with a background on the Kargil War, when only two soldiers survived: Colonel Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor) and Fateh Singh Lakhawat (Bobby Deol). Fateh asks Kaul to authorise Project Alpha, a special forces unit that works separately. After the first Alpha project fails, Fateh secretly continues the operation on a little child whom he names Sita (Alpha). Sita grows up to become a trained assassin whom Fateh uses to kill people. Sita discovers chilling details about her past, after which she goes rogue and against Fateh. During the journey, she reunites with her sister Durga (Sharvari) and father Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor). The fight for Sita turns very personal, where she has to protect her family and the country.
What’s Missing
A Solid Plot
Alpha’s narrative is very weak, and so are the characters, but we come to that later. Now, when I sit back and think about the film, I hardly have any thrilling aspects to share from a story POV. Alpha does not experiment with the narrative and sticks to a safe formula. The India-Pakistan narrative stays true to the storyline, here too, and the scale is too large, but the stakes are too low. The story becomes more about two superheroes (Sita and Durga) who have been injected with alpha serum that gives them superpowers like quick healing and golden ears. But the story hardly gives two characters anything substantial to fight against. The missions are way too convenient, and the narrative deeply lacks any emotional edge. In fact, the emotions in the characters are only dealt with as fillers in the storyline. When that fails to work, we have a cameo, which I desperately wanted to like, but Hrithik Roshan’s Kabir is sandwiched into the storyline as it will never be questioned! By some unknown logic, the story also shows the characters in a glamorous light, which felt so unnecessary.
What I liked about the story was only the attempt to showcase a deeply invested sister-bond between Sita and Durga.
Characters
Sita is a trained assassin, a coding genius who led an extremely lonely life after being separated from her family. However, her only talent used in the narrative is her action and a “I am cold-hearted” personality. The character is given nothing more to work around and suffers deeply from ignorant writing. There is no X factor about the Sita, unlike Kabir or Tiger.
On the other hand, we hardly get to know about Durga’s background except that she has a super fun life in Spain, and a good training by her father, Vikrant Kaul. Alpha was meant to introduce female spies into the universe, but it ends up making them so hollow. They lack any lasting impact on us!
Dialogues
The dialogues in Alpha are so massy and dramatic! It only created a sense of distraction despite trying hard to like them.
Screenplay
The screenplay is not impressive either. The story lacks logic on several levels, and there is no consistency in the events that unfold. The flow of the narrative keeps breaking with either a song for the eyeballs or a long adventure that leads to nothing substantial in the story. It keeps shifting between Cherrapunji and Kashmir, and while the latter looks authentic and lived-in, Cherrapunji is just a one-dimensional, rain-soaked caricature. Some of the action sequences are really shot well and stylishly, however they continue to defy the laws of physics and common sense.
Performances
Alia Bhatt looks her part, and she has given her best shot at the action sequences. Sharvari is quite fun to watch, too. The two actors share a very cute chemistry as sisters, and I would want to see more of that. Bobby Deol, as the fierce soldier, has done an impressive job in maintaining the aura of the character throughout. However, his Haryanvi accent comes and goes. Anil Kapoor delivers a decent performance too.
Alpha has some thrilling background score.
Also Read: Will Ram Charan Starrer Peddi Be Released On Netflix? Here’s What We Know!
Verdict
Alpha had our hopes high, but I returned from the theatre feeling disappointed. And it’s sad. Why can’t we write good action thrillers for women? When the cast is amazing, why are we not focusing on the writing too?
First Published: July 03, 2026 7:12 PM
