The Alpha box office story is one of 2026’s big Bollywood disappointments. Yash Raj Films’ first female-led spy film, led by Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, stopped just short of ₹100 crore worldwide. Here are the numbers and five reasons it struggled.
The Alpha box office run ended at about ₹58.86 crore nett in India and ₹99.10 crore gross worldwide, according to Sacnilk, which classed the film as a below-average performer or a flop. It opened on 3 July 2026 with Bobby Deol and Anil Kapoor alongside the two leads.
The film has found a second life on Netflix, where it has streamed since 28 August 2026. For a franchise built on record openings, though, the final figures were a shock.
Alpha box office at a glance
- Release date: 3 July 2026, after moves from 25 December 2025, 17 April 2026 and 10 July 2026
- Director: Shiv Rawail, in his feature debut after the series The Railway Men
- Producer: Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films
- Cast: Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol
- Runtime: 140 minutes
- Reported budget: ₹100 crore to ₹150 crore
- India total: ₹58.86 crore nett, ₹70.05 crore gross
- Worldwide total: ₹99.10 crore gross
- Streaming: Netflix from 28 August 2026
What Alpha is about
Alia Bhatt plays Sita Kaul, an assassin raised as a super-soldier who discovers the truth about her stolen childhood. She teams up with her long-lost twin, Durga, played by Sharvari, to bring down the man who created her and his illegal military programme.
Bobby Deol is the villain, Anil Kapoor plays Vikrant Kaul, and Hrithik Roshan appears as Kabir from War to tie the film to the wider YRF Spy Universe. The story is credited to Uday Chopra, and filming took the unit from Mumbai to Sonamarg and Pahalgam in Kashmir and Valladolid in Spain.
Alpha box office: how the numbers fell
The trouble began on day one. Alpha took ₹9.25 crore nett in India from 7,534 shows and ₹16.10 crore worldwide, the Free Press Journal reported, the lowest opening in the spy universe. Pathaan opened at ₹57 crore, War 2 at a reported ₹52.5 crore and Tiger 3 at about ₹44.50 crore.
The first week brought in ₹47.45 crore, then the slide was steep: ₹8.95 crore in week two, ₹1.96 crore in week three and only ₹0.33 crore in week four. Overseas markets added ₹29.05 crore gross.
The final Alpha box office total makes it the tenth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2026, a respectable rank for most films but a poor one for a YRF tentpole.
1. Mixed reviews and weak word of mouth
Critics praised the two leads, the action, the music and Hrithik Roshan’s cameo, but the story and screenplay drew criticism. According to the film’s Wikipedia entry, Rotten Tomatoes counted 26% positive from 19 reviews, and the overall response was mixed to negative.
Sacnilk pointed to mixed word of mouth and critics who felt the plot leaned on familiar genre tropes. There were kinder voices: the Free Press Journal gave it 3 stars and called it “not a bad film”.
2. Spy fatigue hit the Alpha box office
Industry experts quoted by Sacnilk cited “growing spy fatigue” among audiences. War 2 had already underperformed, and Alpha’s back-to-back stumble suggested the formula of globe-trotting missions and franchise cameos no longer felt fresh.
It did not help that 2026’s biggest spy hit was Dhurandhar: The Revenge, a very different, grittier kind of film that set its own standard for the genre.
3. Dhamaal 4 and The Odyssey squeezed its run
Alpha moved forward to 3 July to secure a clear window, but the gap was short. Indra Kumar’s Dhamaal 4 arrived on 10 July and opened at ₹14.25 crore, already more than Alpha’s first day, and families and groups chose the comedy.
A week later, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey claimed many multiplex screens in the big cities. Squeezed from both sides, the Alpha box office collections fell more than 80% in the second week.
4. Too many delays
YRF first promised Alpha for Christmas 2025. It was pushed to 17 April 2026 for visual effects work, then announced for 10 July, and finally advanced to 3 July.
Each move chipped away at the buzz a firm date builds. Filming had started in July 2024 and finished only in November 2025, so audiences waited almost two years between the title announcement and the release.
5. The budget set a high bar
Industry reports put the cost at between ₹100 crore and ₹150 crore. Against that, ₹99.10 crore worldwide gross was not enough to recover costs, Sacnilk reported, and the Alpha box office verdict followed.
For context, a gross figure includes taxes and the cinemas’ share, so the producer’s return is well below the headline number.
What the Alpha box office means for YRF
According to industry reports cited by Sacnilk’s Alpha box office round-up, Aditya Chopra and the YRF team are considering a complete creative reboot of the spy universe before moving ahead with Pathaan 2. YRF has not confirmed this.
The expected shift is towards grounded storytelling and character depth, and away from over-the-top action. The female-led idea remains promising; the execution and timing did not land.
Where to watch Alpha in the UAE
Alpha has streamed on Netflix since 28 August 2026, timed with Raksha Bandhan, in Hindi with Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam dubs. Netflix catalogues differ by country, so viewers in the UAE should search for it in the Netflix app.
Alpha box office FAQs
Is Alpha a hit or a flop?
Alpha is a below-average performer or a flop. It grossed ₹99.10 crore worldwide, just short of ₹100 crore.
What was the Alpha box office collection in India?
Alpha earned ₹58.86 crore nett, or ₹70.05 crore gross, in India.
When did Alpha come to Netflix?
Alpha began streaming on Netflix on 28 August 2026. Check the Netflix app for availability in the UAE.
Look back at how YRF introduced Alia Bhatt and Sharvari as the Alpha girls, see Sharvari’s Alpha training, and find more stories in our Bollywood section.