Alpha review: Alia Bhatt, Sharvari's YRF Spyverse debut lacks spark; only Hrithik Roshan brings excitement to thriller

ALpha motion-picture show reviewDirector: Shiv RawailCast: Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Bobby Deol, indigotin KapoorRating: ★★If societal media is to be believed, filmmakers today feature of a sudden forgotten how to make films, and every big-ticket release after Dhurandhar is apparently too scared for theatres and destined for a direct OTT premiere. That's an exaggeration, of course, but only slightly. The negativity around Alpha over the past few months has been deafening. Reddit, X and Instagram have been flooded with rumours of extensive reshoots after Dhurandhar, whispers that Alpha's makers were considering skipping theatres altogether. And endless declarations that the film is doomed.As I watch Alpha, it ultimately doesn't turn out to be a great film. But whatever happened to giving a film, any film, a fair chance before writing its obituary?Alpha's premiseAnyway, I digress. Directed by Shiv Rawail, Alpha is the latest entrant to the YRF SpyVerse, a franchise that has so far stood on the shoulders of its male superstars. This time, Alia Bhatt steps into the titular role.The film follows Colonel Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor), whose pregnant wife Janki (Dia Mirza) is diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition. Doctors advise her to terminate the pregnancy, warning that carrying the baby to term could cost her life. Janki refuses, unwilling to give up her chance at motherhood. Meanwhile, Vikrant's ambitious junior in the Indian Army, Fateh (Bobby Deol), is desperate to get his Alpha programme approved. The project revolves around an experimental serum that can turn an ordinary human into a superhuman.In a bid to save his wife, Vikrant secretly injects Janki with the serum, and the treatment appears to work. But the miracle is short-lived. The serum is eventually discovered to be fatal, and Vikrant is forced to confront the consequences of his decision. Janki dies during childbirth, while Fateh lies about the fate of the newborn. What follows forms the rest of the story. What works and what doesn'tThe story, by Uday Chopra, has the right ingredients for an engaging origin story. A girl raised in captivity as part of a scientific experiment is forced to confront her past. It is a premise that promises both action and genuine emotion. Unfortunately, Alpha falters because that emotional connection never quite takes root. At its core lies the idea of 'family', but the film's 2-hour 20-minute runtime rushes through moments that should have been allowed to breathe, compressing them into just a handful of scenes. This leads the viewer to wonder how things could possibly improve so quickly.The first half is largely unexciting. Whether that's down to the writing or simply the lead actor being miscast is debatable, but Alia Bhatt doesn't quite fit the bill. Her action set pieces are technically competent, yet they rarely generate any excitement. Ironically, the same film features Hrithik Roshan in an extended special appearance, and his few minutes on screen are far more engaging. With larger-than-life characters like these, attitude is everything. Even when Hrithik is simply standing in front of a group of goons, you eagerly look forward to what he's about to do next.The second half, therefore, benefits a lot from Hrithik's presence. Sharvari, fresh off the simply magical Main Vaapas Aaunga, gets to showcase a completely different side of herself here. The three share a sequence together (not a spoiler, since the trailer already revealed it), and those moments are, for me at least, the film's biggest high point. Once that stretch is over, however, Alpha begins to drag. The climax is hit-or-miss.The background score by Sanchit and Ankit Balhara does a lot of the heavy lifting, constantly trying to make the action seem cool. Tracks with lyrics like "Tu hi toh agni hai re" and "I am gonna eat you alive" kick in whenever Alia switches into combat mode, underlining the film's insistence on selling her as unstoppable.As for the performances, Sharvari does what's required of her, nothing more, nothing less. Anil Kapoor lends the proceedings much-needed credibility, largely on the strength of his performance. Dia Mirza is pleasant in her cameo. Bobby Deol, meanwhile, puts genuine effort into his character and emerges as a good antagonist.In the end, Alpha proves two things. First, social media's habit of writing a film's fate months before release helps nobody. Second, not every film that survives online negativity necessarily warrants the benefit of the doubt. Alpha is neither the disaster naysayers had predicted nor the reinvention the SpyVerse needed after the disappointing War 2. It is a competently mounted but emotionally underwhelming film that delivers very few highs, largely courtesy Hrithik Roshan, but never finds a compelling pulse of its own. Sometimes, that's more disappointing than watching an outright bad film.