‘Alpha’ review: Brawn beats brain in rote action thriller
· Scroll
The latest chapter in the YRF Spy Universe franchise stars Alia Bhatt as a lethal heroine. Shiv Rawail’s Alpha follows from the War films, the Ek Tha Tiger trilogy and Pathaan.
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Sita (Bhatt) has been snatched from her family as an infant and injected with a regenerative serum called Alpha by rogue Army officer Fateh (Bobby Deol). Fateh wants to raise a race of super-soldiers who heal quickly and don’t die easily. With the help of the scientist Verghese (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), Fateh makes Sita his first, and most prized, lab rat.
Yet, here is Sita 20 years later, swearing to destroy the man she considers her foster father. Sita teams up with Durga (Sharvari) and spy chief Vikram (Anil Kapoor) to take down Fateh. Kabir (Hrithik Roshan) from War turns up to help the “girls” – for this is what they are called although they are women.
Probably still hurting from the mediocre War 2, Kabir is passing the time making mandalas in a monastery. “I used to be dangerous once,” Kabir says, a bit wistfully.
The film’s story, credited to Uday Chopra, and the screenplay, by Sridhar Raghavan and Soumil Shukla, has a couple of twists that enliven the parade of dull writing and repetitive action set pieces. Some of these developments are unknown even to Vikram.
Although designated as...