Can Alia Bhatt's Alpha Survive Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar Effect?

When Alia Bhatt and Sharvari recently appeared on India's Got Latent 2, the stage was perfectly set. For a big action film targeting the youth, Samay Raina's popular roast show, was the ultimate playground to flash some sharp, Alpha-level wit and command the room.

Instead, the two on-screen agents looked like they were trying to hide the movie from the audience.

Alia, sporting an 'Alpha' cap, remarked that she wasn't there to promote the film. Later, while handing a 'Born Alpha' T-shirt to a contestant, she seemed reluctant to even display the merchandise to the camera. The awkwardness peaked when she said, "Wear it if you want or don't wear it, but it's from my upcoming movie."

That awkward exchange perfectly summed up why Alpha feels strangely low on buzz despite the combined star power of Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, and the weight of the YRF banner. If the film's own stars don't project absolute conviction in the film, how can they expect the audience to?

When Alpha arrives on July 3, it will face a definitive litmus test. More than just box office numbers will be at stake; Alpha will be fighting for the very survival of the YRF Spy Universe. The franchise is on shaky ground after its last two installments (Tiger 3 and War 2) failed to ignite the box office despite the country's biggest superstars.

Having directed the impactful series The Railway Men, Shiv Rawail has been handed the mission to rewrite the Spy Universe playbook. However, on the surface, Alpha's trailer hints at a painfully familiar blueprint. A rogue, disgruntled agent weaponising betrayal against India, global stakes, and a predictable crossover climax. The trailer sticks to the same glossy formula, threatening to make Alpha look structurally identical to Pathaan or War, just with female leads.

But more than its own recycled tropes, Alpha's biggest hurdle is the immense pressure to match up to the 'Dhurandhar Effect'.

Alpha Enters A Battlefield Rewritten By Dhurandhar

Dhurandhar 1 & 2 have majorly redefined audience expectations by delivering a gritty espionage thriller grounded in a more realistic world of intelligence operations and tapping powerfully into nationalistic emotions. By weaving real events like the Kandahar hijack, Mumbai terrorist attacks and real figures like Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan's ISI operatives into its script, Dhurandhar took massive creative liberties to offer a satisfying sense of justice against India's enemies. This topical, emotionally charged narrative struck a deep, immediate chord with today's viewers. It was followed by a sharp marketing strategy and a wave of viral 'peak detailing' memes. Dhurandhar quickly embedded itself in the public imagination, evolving from a theatrical release into a full-fledged pop culture phenomenon.

Alpha is walking straight into a battlefield where the rules have just been rewritten. With viewers still gripped by Dhurandhar's gritty storytelling, and immersive world-building, the era of glossy, green-screen spectacle may no longer be enough.

Following the Alpha trailer, there was immediate online chatter comparing Alia and Sharvari's interplay with Natasha-Yelena (Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh) in Marvel's Black Widow, suggesting a direct Hollywood influence. The film's release will settle that debate, but it also shows that today's audiences are increasingly sharp at spotting recycled influences in plot or visual design.

More than the box-office, the pressure here is to convince a sceptical audience that the YRF Spy Universe still has something fresh to offer.

The Spy Universe Reality Check From Pathaan To Alpha

Alpha marks the seventh film in YRF's Spy Universe but the franchise's origins were far more organic. Its foundational pillars: Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), and War (2019), were originally conceived and celebrated as massive, standalone hits. It was only later that Aditya Chopra decided to bridge these worlds, retrofitting them into a shared cinematic universe through interconnected characters and crossover appearances.

Pathaan (2023) became the first true Spy Universe film. It brought together characters from across the franchise including a roaring cameo from Tiger (Salman Khan). Pathaan transformed YRF's ambitious vision into a box office juggernaut and firmly cemented the Spy Universe as India's premier action goldmine.

But that was then. In show business, ground realities and audience sentiment shift quickly.

In hindsight, Pathaan's phenomenal success appears to have been driven as much by the historic, emotionally charged return of Shah Rukh Khan as by the appeal of the Spy Universe itself. The films that followed told a different story. Tiger 3 (2023), despite Salman Khan in the lead and a much-hyped cameo by Shah Rukh as Pathaan, failed to recreate the mass madness of its predecessors. But it was the critical and commercial stumbling of War 2 (2025) that truly sent shockwaves through the industry.

The audience's verdict was clear: star power alone cannot salvage bloated storytelling, logic-defying plots, and creative fatigue.

As Alpha hits theaters this weekend, the landscape looks very different and the stakes have fundamentally shifted. The ultimate question remains: will Alpha redefine the franchise, or will it be haunted by the ghost of Dhurandhar?

All Chips On Alia Bhatt's Stardom

To combat this pressure, Yash Raj Films is betting big on Alia Bhatt's box-office equity. On paper, the film is a dual-led actioner co-starring Sharvari, who is fresh off the glowing reviews and remarkable box-office resurgence of Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga. Yet, despite the trailer pitching the film as an "origin story of two deadly girls", Sharvari gets just a single line of dialogue in the Alpha trailer. The marketing hierarchy is crystal clear, leaving zero ambiguity that the project is firmly headlined by Bhatt.

It is a calculated gamble, and the reliance on her isn't unfounded. She previously conquered the spy genre with Raazi (2018), setting box-office records for a female lead and cemented her stardom with Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), sweeping both the box office and the National Awards. To boost Alpha's box-office chances, the makers have backed her up with a strong co-star in Sharvari and the seasoned star power of veterans Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol.

Bollywood trade analysts believe that while Alia Bhatt has built an incredibly strong, premium brand, the post-Dhurandhar box office demands something more: a raw, primal pull from Tier-2 and Tier-3 single screens, a demographic historically dominated by male action stars. The challenge is immense. But if Alia Bhatt is able to bridge that gap, she will completely rewrite the rules of Bollywood stardom.

Calculated Reveal Or Crack In The Armour?

Yet beneath the hype, the promotional strategy reveals a telling crack in the armour. Since the inception of the Spy Universe, YRF treated crossover appearances and major cameos as fiercely-guarded, top-secret theater reveals - like Salman Khan's explosive arrival in Pathaan. Alpha, however, breaks code entirely by flashing its biggest weapon, Hrithik Roshan's Major Kabir Dhaliwal, right in the trailer.

Predictably, a brief flash of Roshan's iconic green eyes instantly became the trailer's most discussed moment. While any buzz is a win, doesn't this calculated glimpse suggest a shaken confidence?

By playing the biggest trump card so early, Alpha is effectively throwing all its chips on the table just to secure a strong opening.

Even the promotional approach has felt strangely understated. Whether this was a deliberate strategy to avoid online trolling or simply an overly cautious defensive marketing choice, the campaign has lacked the urgency usually associated with a film of this scale.

Can Alpha Coexist With Dhurandhar?

For now, Dhurandhar may have rewritten the rules of the Hindi spy thriller, but that doesn't mean there's room for only one kind of espionage cinema. Hollywood has shown for decades that grounded franchises like The Bourne series can comfortably exist alongside the spectacle of James Bond and Mission: Impossible. Ultimately, the audience will decide whether Bollywood, too, has space for both.

As someone who loves Hindi cinema, there's one thought that's hard to shake. After two underwhelming Spy Universe films, it almost feels like Pathaan would have been the obvious choice to return and restore the franchise's spark. But cinema doesn't work on wishes. It works on Fridays. This Friday, that responsibility rests on Alpha. All the best.

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