Alia Bhatt’s Alpha Fails the Monday Test – A 70% Drop and a Tough Road Ahead

Desk

3 hours ago

Alpha Fails Monday Test With 70% Box Office Drop

After a modest opening weekend, Alpha has now failed its first major test at the box office. On Monday, July 6, the Alia Bhatt and Sharvari starrer recorded a sharp 70 percent drop in collections compared to the previous day. The numbers confirm what the mixed response over the weekend had already suggested: the film is struggling to establish a strong hold with audiences.

Alpha opened on Friday, July 3, with ₹9.25 crore net in India, the lowest opening day in the history of the YRF Spy Universe. Despite the quiet start, the film showed steady growth over the weekend. Saturday brought in ₹11.50 crore net, while Sunday emerged as the film’s biggest day so far with ₹13.25 crore net. Monday, however, told a very different story. The film collected only ₹3.85 crore net on Day 4, marking a 70 percent fall from Sunday’s collections. It is a significant drop for a film that had no major new competition at the box office.

Through its first four days, Alpha has collected ₹37.85 crore net and ₹45.34 crore gross in India. The overseas run has been comparatively steadier, with the film adding ₹1.50 crore internationally on Monday to take its overseas total to ₹18.30 crore. Its worldwide gross now stands at ₹63.64 crore after four days. While the film crossed the ₹50 crore worldwide milestone during its opening weekend, Monday’s sharp decline has significantly slowed its momentum.

The contrast with the earlier films in the franchise is unmistakable. The YRF Spy Universe has built a reputation for strong box office openings, with several entries launching in the ₹40–65 crore range on their opening day. Alpha, with its ₹9.25 crore opening, sits well below that benchmark. The film is reportedly mounted on a budget of ₹100–150 crore, meaning it will require a significantly stronger run through the weekdays and the coming weekends to recover its costs from the theatrical window alone.

The reasons behind the poor hold are not difficult to identify. Alpha opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from both critics and audiences. Word of mouth has not been strong enough to drive repeat viewings or attract walk-in audiences after the weekend. The most common criticisms have centred on a weak script, uneven pacing, and concerns about Alia Bhatt’s suitability for the spy role, with several viewers and critics saying she feels like a misfit in the action-heavy sequences. Sharvari received better feedback overall, but the broader consensus was that the writing failed to do justice to either of its two leads.

The disappointment is particularly notable because the film arrived with no major new competition and featured a strong ensemble cast, including Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, and Hrithik Roshan in a cameo. All the ingredients appeared to be in place, but they were not enough to overcome the response to the film itself.

There is also the Hrithik Roshan factor to consider. Almost every review and a large number of audience reactions singled out his cameo as the film’s standout moment, which, while exciting for fans, also raises an uncomfortable question about whether the film’s own leads were able to carry it on their own. When a supporting appearance overshadows the main cast, it rarely helps the film’s word of mouth.

Tuesday’s advance bookings are also showing limited momentum, with approximately ₹1.08 crore in advance sales from just under 70,000 tickets booked. The film will need to post stronger holds through the rest of the week if it hopes to reach the ₹100 crore worldwide milestone within its first seven days. That target is still within reach, but it will require a meaningful improvement over Monday’s performance.

Alpha carries significance beyond its own box office run. As the first female-led entry in the Spy Universe, its eventual theatrical performance is likely to influence the franchise’s direction and future creative decisions.

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