Two and a half stars is a fair verdict for this bloated addition to the YRF Spy Universe, a franchise clearly struggling to recapture the sharpness of ‘Dhurandhar’. Alia Bhatt plays Sita, a supersoldier raised by the ruthless Colonel Lakhawat and infused with an experimental serum that makes her nearly unstoppable.
When she discovers a twin sister, Durga, who was raised in blissful ignorance by their real father, the plot lurches into a tangle of family secrets, covert missions and half explained science.
Bhatt brings real conviction and physical presence to the role, handling the action sequences with a confidence that the film around her rarely matches.
Anil Kapoor, playing her manipulative father figure, is magnetic whenever he appears, delivering lines with more menace than the material deserves. Bobby Deol, unfortunately, struggles to convince as the villain, and Sharvari’s Durga is left with little to do beyond looking composed in glossy set pieces.
The film leans heavily on the genre’s usual trappings, gleaming locations, designer wardrobes and slow motion entrances, but few of these flourishes translate into genuine tension. A brief cameo from Hrithik Roshan offers a jolt of energy that the rest of the film cannot sustain.
At close to two and a half hours, ‘Alpha’ overstays its welcome, its espionage plot never quite justifying its length.
Bhatt deserves sharper writing than this, and so does the franchise itself, which now feels in urgent need of new ideas rather than another instalment coasting on style alone.
Movie rating: ★★½
