The makers of Alia Bhatt and Sharvari-starrer Alpha unveiled the film’s much-awaited teaser on Wednesday, and the promotional video has received a mixed response from fans. Many have even accused the makers of copying scenes from the 1990 French film La Femme Nikita, while others pointed out that the wolf-sheep analogy featured in the teaser resembles one used in the Hollywood classic American Sniper.
Alpha scene copied from French film?
In the Alpha teaser, Bobby Deol’s character is seen taking his daughter (played by Alia Bhatt), whom he has been training from a young age to be a spy, to a fancy restaurant on the occasion of her 18th birthday. It is at this restaurant that he gives her first mission — to carry out her first kill. The revelation initially leaves Alia’s character disappointed because she believed they were there to celebrate her birthday, but she eventually goes ahead and completes the mission.
Fans have now drawn parallels between this scene and a sequence from the French classic La Femme Nikita, in which Tcheky Karyo’s character Bob takes Anne Parillaud’s Nikita — a seemingly shy and demure young woman who has also been trained to kill — to an upscale restaurant. While Nikita is initially delighted by the gesture, Bob soon hands her a gun and instructs her to kill three people on the spot.
Fans have pointed out how the two scenes appear strikingly similar. A social media user shared the clip from La Femme Nikita and wrote, “BBNG notes a copied scene from #Alpha Teaser . Operative word is “loosely copied” The opening scene is loosely copied from the scene in Luc Besson’s action classic La Femme Nikita starring Anne Parillaud and Tcheky Karyo.” Another comment read, “The opening scene is copied 90% from the scene in Luc Besson’s action classic LA FEMME…😱 The Plot is also similar… #Alpha 😭.”
Alpha dialogue borrowed from American Sniper?
Another cinema enthusiast quickly pointed out that the wolf-sheep analogy Bobby Deol’s character uses to teach Alia to become a fearless spy has previously been used in the Hollywood film American Sniper (2014), which was directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and starred Bradley Cooper in the lead role. The comment read, “Alpha didn’t copy #AmericanSniper; it just got a little too inspired by it. Maybe YRF should hunt for fresh talent instead of familiar dialogue. And despite Bobby Deol’s cover fire, the girl playing young #Aliabatt looks more convincing than the star herself. #YRFSpyUniverse.”
About Alpha
Alpha is being touted as a female-led spy thriller and stars Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, and Bobby Deol in lead roles. The film is directed by Shiv Rawail and is bankrolled by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films. Alpha is part of YRF’s Spy Universe, which includes films such as War, Pathaan, Ek Tha Tiger, and more.