OPINION | Alpha Never Finds Its ‘Alpha’

I’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time watching (and rewatching) John Wick. So when I learnt that the Hollywood action expert who trained Keanu Reeves for the franchise had also trained Alia Bhatt and Sharvari for Alpha, I was genuinely excited. Excited because finally there was a Hindi film promising the kind of bone-crunching action Hollywood has perfected. I walked into the theatre with those expectations.

And I walked out wondering what exactly went wrong.

Even Shampoo Commercials Are More Engaging

The film opens by trying to inject patriotism from the very first frame, but the emotion never lands. You don’t feel invested. There’s a disconnect right from the beginning, and it stays with you till the very end, until the credits roll. 

Then comes Alia Bhatt’s introduction. She’s riding a bike… while eating fries.

For the lead of an action thriller, that’s a very poorly written introduction. You expect your hero’s entry to make you sit up. Instead, it barely registers. And that sums up Alia’s journey through the film.

And Alia, as Alpha, never looks convincing. The fight sequences don’t feel natural, and there are moments where her expressions feel forced enough to pull you out of the scene. Alia as Alpha looked far more promising in the trailer than she ever did in the film.

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Next on to Sharvari. She’s just as underwhelming. Honestly, even a shampoo commercial is more engaging than Sharvari’s introduction in the film. And that’s less about their talent and more about how poorly these characters were written. And directed too by Shiv Rawail.

Bobby Deol has screen presence, but someone should have stopped him from attempting that Haryanvi accent. Even after you learn why he sounds the way he does in Alpha, it doesn’t help. The accent remains inconsistent, distracting and, after a point, downright irritating. Anil Kapoor still fares better than the rest, but even he can’t help a film that gives you nobody to emotionally invest in.

That’s where Alpha completely misses the point.

The reason John Wick works isn’t just because of the action. You care about John Wick. Every punch, every gunshot and every chase has emotional weight. In Alpha, the action keeps coming, but your heart never races with it because you simply don’t care enough about anyone on screen.

Songs Exist In Alpha For Male Gaze

The music doesn’t help either. Not one song stays with you after the credits roll. For a Bollywood action film, that’s quite an achievement – and not in a good way.

The biggest problem, though, is how painfully predictable the film is.

Even before the interval, you’ve figured out almost everything. There’s RAW. There are enemies across the border. There’s a Pakistani mole. Patriotic Indian officers are trying to save the nation. Haven’t we seen this story far too many times already? 

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Then come the songs, with the camera zooming in on the bodies of the female leads. You’d think YRF would have learnt its lesson after the criticism surrounding Peddi and Janhvi Kapoor. Apparently not. Just like Peddi, they exist more for the male gaze than the narrative.

Patriotism – the film’s biggest selling point – is where Alpha falls flat. Despite repeatedly invoking 26/11, Uri and the India-Pakistan standoff, the film never earns the patriotism it so desperately wants the audience to feel. It keeps reminding you of these tragedies but rarely makes you feel their emotional weight.

Hrithik Roshan’s Not-So-Needed Cameo

And then there’s the much-hyped Hrithik Roshan cameo.

Did the film need it? Not really.

What it also didn’t need were the painfully cringe-worthy dialogues invoking Sita, Janaki and Durga. The references feel more like a calculated attempt to give the film a Hindutva flavour. Even on that front, it fails. 

Alpha’s biggest problem? 

Everything is technically in place, but nothing is.

That’s Alpha for you. Maybe the makers should’ve called it Beta instead.