Alpha women are never liked, but a high-end action film, frontlined by the stunning Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, deserves more love

ALIA BHATT and Sharvari star in Yash Raj Films latest offering from its Spy Universe franchise. It's a wonderfully titled film called ‘Alpha’ – I say so because women who are alphas are often derided and not liked. Neither was the film, sadly, and that makes its name even more significant.

The film’s numbers and its reviews are a tad unfair. It is judged solely on the might of the production house that has backed the movie. And the fact that it’s an action film headlining two women – who actually pull off the stunts rather well, as all have agreed. Yes, the writing is predictable and dull. But ‘Alpha’ is hardly a terrible film. It may not be a great film, but neither are so many senseless, plot-free, poorly written blockbusters manufactured to be hits with an amazing score, and then, all the trappings that are put into a male-led film.

With ‘Alpha’, for one, the two girls look stunning. Alia has, in fact, never looked better. Her fitness regime, and we’ve seen bits and bobs of her pull ups  and push ups on Instagram, has done her well. She’s developed an athlete’s form and the body language is that of a fighter alright. She may have a slight frame but a strong one. Alia in ‘Alpha’ is far more convincing than Anushka Sharma was as a wrestler in the monster hit ‘Sultan’, more so opposite the brawny bulky Salman Khan.

There’s a fight sequence in ‘Alpha’ where the girls fight like ninja warriors, dressed in the very au courant athleisure. Alia often wears a sports bra in the film (and pulls off her petiteness so confidently). Sharvari, would you believe, is in a black lace bra, and a barely-there ganji over it. In a song sequence, the two are trekking through a jungle, both in gorgeous bikinis with their different kinds of stunning bodies. The physicality of both these leading ladies show that women can be beautiful in different shapes, a wispy Alia and a voluptuous Sharvari. The argument about looking at the women through a male gaze hardly holds as no one expects to watch a film with Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Shahid Kapoor or Ranveer Singh where they don’t remove their shirt.

In another scene, Alia, as an 18-year-old, is shown wearing just a strapless bra. It is a heartbreaking scene, one that made me squirm, but I had to admire the actor’s conviction and confidence here as much as her slim frame.

‘Alpha’ is the story of separated at birth sisters – not identical twins obviously – who were raised differently. Alia was raised in a laboratory, by her father figure Bobby Deol, trained to be a super warrior thanks to some scientific super serum. Sharvari was raised in faraway Spain, protected by the girls’ real father, a military honcho Anil Kapoor. Understandably, both girls have ‘Daddy issues’. Alia fears abandonment and makes no attachment. Sharvari was ‘adopted’ by her uncle and aunt, while her father, who she never says no to, kept her at a safe distance.

The most wonderful thing about ‘Alpha’ is that there is no male lead. No ‘hero’ comes to save the girls. This is unlike the other female-led action film, ‘Baby Do Die Do’, fronted and co-produced by the wonderful Huma Qureshi. Huma plays a contract killer, who gets by being a woman, and a deaf-mute one at that. Her beauty makes a music teacher (Rachit Singh) fall in love with her. But there are no music lessons post nuptials, he only shows up, muscularly, to save her in the nick of time even as the villain readies himself to shoot her at point blank.

Here’s a list of Yash Raj Film’s Spy Universe main leads: Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Hrithik Roshan. All beautiful,

And then, the tiny, diminutive Alia Bhatt and her badass athletic bras. Fighting the villains, stereotypes, and patriarchy all at once.