At the Red Sea Film Festival, Alia Bhatt teased Alpha, Yash Raj Films’ first female-led entry in the YRF Spy Universe, calling it a high-risk, high-reward action bet in a market still skewed towards male-fronted blockbusters. The Shiv Rawail-directed film, co-starring Sharvari and Bobby Deol, releases worldwide on 17 April 2026.
Alpha takes centre stage at Red Sea
Alia Bhatt used her Red Sea Film Festival appearance to spotlight Alpha, describing it as Hindi cinema’s first full-scale female-led spy film from YRF’s hit spy universe. She underlined that mounting a big-budget actioner on a woman is still viewed as a “risk” in terms of box office expectations.
The film marks the seventh installment in the YRF Spy Universe, following Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, War, Pathaan and Tiger 3, and is positioned as the franchise’s next global tentpole. Directed by Shiv Rawail and produced by Aditya Chopra, Alpha will now hit theatres on 17 April 2026.
Key highlights
-
First female-led YRF Spy Universe film, headlined by Alia Bhatt with Sharvari as co-lead agents.
-
Ensemble features Bobby Deol and Anil Kapoor, with high-octane espionage and stunt-driven set pieces.
-
Seventh film in the lucrative YRF Spy Universe, expanding a proven big-screen IP for global audiences.
-
Initially announced for Christmas 2025, now rescheduled to 17 April 2026 for a wider worldwide rollout.
-
Bhatt openly acknowledges commercial risk but frames Alpha as a watershed for women-led action in mainstream Bollywood.
Sources : Deadline, IMDb, Yash Raj Films official site, YRF title announcement video, Wikipedia (YRF Spy Universe), TimesPrime.