Alpha Movie Review: In 2012, Katrina Kaif broke new ground for women in the Yash Raj Films Spy Universe, marking a definitive shift in how female characters are usually positioned within the genre. Fourteen years later, Alia Bhatt takes that legacy forward with a spy actioner led entirely by a woman. Alpha truly marks a paradigm shift. The glass ceiling has been shattered. We’ve come a long way.
In this Shiv Rawail directorial, Alia’s Sita goes against the grain of the cinematic archetype of overtly sexualised, latex bodysuit-clad female spies. Sure, she’s invincible, seemingly infallible, defies death and gravity and leaps mid-air to take down the bad guys. But she is human too. She’s a product of being brought up as a test subject, of being snatched away from the comfort and warmth of a loving home.She doesn’t know love. She doesn’t know empathy. And she struggles to express herself. Which is why, in the few tender moments she shares with her estranged twin Durga, your heart softens. When she places a flower in her hair and looks at herself in the crystal-clear waters of Kashmir, you witness her perhaps discovering femininity, gentleness and softness for the very first time.But despite being hardened and iron-willed, Sita is not defined by the traditionally masculine traits that often shape female protagonists in action-heavy cinema like Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani. While Sita stands firmly at the centre of the action, she remains vulnerable, intuitive and deeply complex, proving that aggression isn’t the only markers of strength or seriousness.
Alpha opens against the backdrop of the 1999 Kargil War that left casualties on both sides. Determined to make India invincible in the face of mounting threats, Col Fateh Singh Lakhawat devises an ‘elite and advanced program’ to create a special task force, aided by scientist Dr Verghese. Soon, a group of young men are injected with a serum called Alpha, engineered to create superhumans.
The serum enhances vision, reflexes, lung capacity and sensory abilities, granting heightened hearing and the ability to hold one’s breath underwater for up to eight minutes. But before long, the serum begins to show dangerous side effects. Unaware of this, Lt Col Vikrant Kaul injects the serum into his wife Janaki’s bloodstream when she runs the risk of cardiac collapse during pregnancy.
