Alpha is a 2026 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Shiv Rawail, in his feature film debut, and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. Written by Soumil Shukla, Shridhar Raghavan and Ishita Moitra from a story by Chopra's brother Uday, it is the seventh installment in the YRF Spy Universe, second installment in the universe to establish crossovers between characters from other universe films and the first female-led film in the universe, starring Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The film follows a highly trained assassin raised in isolation as a super-soldier by a rogue commander. When she discovers the dark truth about her family and her stolen childhood, she teams up with her long lost sister to take down her creator and his illicit military program.
Following a title announcement in July 2024, principal photography began in the same month, taking place in Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir, and Valladolid.
Alpha was released theatrically on 3 July 2026. It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and emerged as a box-office bomb. It is the 9th highest-grossing Hindi film of 2026.
Contents
Plot
Following the 1999 Kargil War, Colonel Fateh Singh Lakhawat, with the assistance of Lieutenant Colonel Vikrant Kaul, initiates a covert Indian Army super-soldier project known as Alpha. Three years later, after successful trials, the program receives official approval. Meanwhile, Vikrant's pregnant wife, Janaki, is diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Hoping to save her life, Vikrant secretly steals a vial of the experimental Alpha serum, which possesses regenerative properties, and administers it to her. Although her condition improves during the later stages of pregnancy, the serum's long-term effects prove fatal. Janaki dies shortly after giving birth to twin daughters. As a consequence of Vikrant's actions, and the death of some soldiers after the trials due to brain hemorrhage, the Alpha program is ordered to be discontinued, and Fateh is demoted to Lieutenant Colonel and reassigned to Cherrapunji.
Determined to continue the project, Fateh, aided by Dr. John Verghese, abducts one of the newborn twins, who has inherited the serum in her bloodstream, while deceiving Vikrant into believing that both his wife and daughter died. Naming the child Sita in memory of Janaki, Fateh raises her at a secret facility in Rajasthan as the primary subject of a revived Alpha program. The second twin, Durga, is raised separately and grows up unaware of her sister's existence.
Twenty-four years later, in 2026, Sita systematically assassinates the scientists and military officials associated with the Alpha program before destroying Fateh's research facility. Her actions attract the attention of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), led by Vikrant, who has succeeded his late friend Sunil Luthra as the agency's chief. After confronting Fateh, Vikrant learns that Sita is his biological daughter. He subsequently travels to Valladolid to meet Durga, who has been living an ordinary life.
Sita tracks Vikrant to his safe house in Pahalgam, where she briefly fights Durga before subduing the pair and revealing that she has learned the truth about Project Alpha from Verghese. Before they can reconcile, Fateh's forces attack the safe house. Sita and Durga escape to another safe house in Ladakh, while Vikrant remains behind to delay the attackers and pursue Fateh. Although Vikrant locates him, he is captured.
Fateh's forces later assault the Ladakh safe house but are repelled with the assistance of Kabir Dhaliwal. During the battle, Durga is wounded, allowing Sita to escape with her while Kabir covers their retreat. Sita later infiltrates Fateh's compound in Srinagar alone and discovers Vikrant with an explosive device strapped to his body. Fateh reveals that his true identity is Major Zarrar Khan, an undercover operative of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who infiltrated the Indian Army in 1989 with the objective of developing the Alpha serum and delivering it to Pakistan. Zarrar subsequently departs for his base in Cherrapunji after abducting Durga to use her DNA in the development of an improved version of the serum.
Production
Development
Yash Raj Films announced the title on 5 July 2024, describing Alpha as the first female-led film in their YRF Spy Universe. Shiv Rawail, known for the Netflix series The Railway Men, was recruited by producer Aditya Chopra to direct the film. It was Rawail's first feature film, and story writer Uday Chopra's first Hindi film credit since Dhoom 3 (2013). A release date of Christmas 2025 was announced in October 2024.
Casting
Alia Bhatt and Sharvari were attached to the project by August 2023. In March 2024, Bobby Deol was reported to be the antagonist. Anil Kapoor joined the cast in July 2024, reprising his role from War 2. Hrithik Roshan was confirmed to make a cameo appearance in August 2024, reprising his role as Kabir Dhaliwal. Dibyendu Bhattacharya joined the cast in March 2025. Dia Mirza made a guest appearance.
Filming
Principal photography began on 5 July 2024, with filming taking place in Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmir schedule, filmed in Sonamarg and Pahalgam, concluded in September 2024 after delays due to adverse weather. Sharvari said that filming was "supremely fun but physically so taxing". Hrithik Roshan joined the production in November 2024 for his cameo shoot in Mumbai. In August 2025, Alia Bhatt and Sharvari wrapped shooting. Filming was completed in November 2025. Action trainer and stunt expert Jessen Noviello prepared Alia Bhatt and Sharvari for their action sequences.
Music
The soundtrack for Alpha was composed by Rohansh Pandit and Abeer Pandit, sons of film composer Lalit Pandit. The film score was composed by Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara.
The track "Jamaican (Bam Bam)" by Hugel and SOLTO was used in the film trailer.
Marketing
Alia Bhatt and Sharvari teamed up to cheer for the Indian women's cricket team for the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup. They made an Instagram video about the team with the caption "From 2 Alphas to Team India's 15 Alphas!" The film's teaser was released on 10 June 2026. The official trailer was released on 17 June 2026.
Release
Theatrical
Alpha was theatrically released on 3 July 2026. It was initially slated to release on 25 December 2025, coinciding with Christmas. It was later postponed to 17 April 2026, due to post-production work on visual effects. The release date again got deferred to its current release date.
Certification
The film received a U/A 16+ certificate on 29 June 2026 by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after certain cuts, profanity muting and visual changes. The CBFC's Examining Committee asked the makers to reduce visuals of multiple stabbings in the second half and replace them with alternative visuals. A foul word was also asked to be deleted in the first half by the Committee. The runtime of the film is 140.48 minutes.
Home media
The film began streaming on Netflix from 28 August 2026.
Reception
Box office
On its opening day, the film earned ₹9.12 crore at the domestic box office.
Alpha grossed ₹98.62 crore (US$10 million) worldwide. It grossed ₹68.72 crore (US$7.1 million) in India and ₹29.9 crore (US$3.1 million) in overseas market.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 22% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.2/10.
Reviewers identified the film as either a spy thriller, a spy actioner, an action thriller or a family melodrama.
Vineeta Kumar considered the film better-directed than War 2, despite it being Rawail's feature debut. In contrast, Bollywood Hungama believed the direction to be lacklustre and "not up to the mark." Kumar described the screenplay as focusing more on building shock value over intrigue, and Bollywood Hungama deemed it derivative and illogical. Though, Nandini Ramnath made note of the screenplay containing twists that "enliven the parade of dull writing and repetitive action set pieces." Shubhra Gupta pointed out how characters don't speak in lines, rather "they lurch from one dialogue to another," and Rahul Desai termed the dialogues mechanical. Conversely, Bollywood Hungama had some praise for the dialogues. Some, like Titas Chowdhury, found the story to be "largely predictable". Others, like Bollywood Hungama, believed the story to show promise in the beginning, only to get weak "later on." The characters were "sketchily drawn" for Ramnath. Though, Bollywood Hungama found Durga to be a "far more likable" character than Sita.
While some reviewers, like Kumar, offered praise towards Bhatt for carrying the physicality of the role remarkably well, others, like Chowdhury, had praise for her restrained display of emotions even during moments of heroism. Still others, like Ramnath, were more critical, questioning how much acting can one expect between "high-kicking and weapon-discharging." Some publications, like Bollywood Hungama, found Sharvari's screen presence arresting, who looked "great in action scenes." Others, like Rishabh Suri, were more reserved, believing her performance to be merely obligatory. Kumar went so far as to accuse the film of reducing her into a "sexualised doll who occasionally gets to perform." Some reviewers, like Chowdhury, believed Kapoor to balance both dimensions, his resoluteness as the RAW chief and his helplessness as a father, with ease. Although, for Kumar, he was only there for espousing dialogues. Though, Deol "slips effortlessly under the skin of an antagonist and delivers" for Chowdhury, she also had criticism for his inconsistent Haryanvi accent. Similarly, Kumar believed that his stylish performance was held back by the writing which "doesn't give him enough substance." Mirza received praise from Gupta, Bollywood Hungama and Suri, managing to "leave a mark" for the former. Bhattacharya "lends able support," per Bollywood Hungama. Though, Kumar found Mirza and Bhattacharya to make the film "more melodramatic than it is supposed to be." Roshan was praised by Suri, finding him engaging despite his brief appearance. Though, Kumar questioned the necessity of his appearance.
Themes
Sita placing a flower in her hair and looking at herself in the waters was seen by Chowdhury as perhaps Sita "discovering femininity, gentleness and softness for the very first time."
Regarding Sita—who was "locked away, trained and brainwashed for years—to promptly go nation-first in the climax," Desai said, "it's almost as if she has to prove her allegiances a little harder than her male counterparts."
