Highlights:
- Producer Shailendra Singh criticized Alpha's box office performance.
- He said compelling stories matter more than star power.
- Alpha earned about $6.7 million in India.
- The film reportedly failed to cross $11.4 million worldwide.
- Singh compared Alpha with smaller regional films that became major hits.
Alia Bhatt's action thriller Alpha failed to deliver at the box office, and producer Shailendra Singh believes the film's performance highlights a larger issue in Bollywood: audiences care more about strong stories than big names.
Speaking during an interview with Cyrus Broacha on his YouTube channel, Singh discussed the industry's high failure rate and used Alpha as an example of how even large-scale productions featuring major stars can struggle if they fail to connect with audiences.
According to Singh, Bollywood's failure rate is as high as 94 per cent, regardless of the actors involved.
He pointed to the contrast between Alpha and several smaller regional films that became surprise successes despite being made on much lower budgets.
"The story has to be correct and it has to be mounted right," Singh said.
He noted that while Alpha reportedly failed to cross the ₹50 crore mark in his remarks, the film ultimately earned approximately ₹58.6 crore (about $6.7 million) at the Indian box office during its theatrical run. According to trade tracker Sacnilk, its worldwide earnings also stayed below ₹100 crore (about $11.4 million).
Despite featuring Alia Bhatt in the lead and being produced by Yash Raj Films as part of its Spy Universe, Alpha struggled from its opening weekend.
The film debuted with approximately ₹9.25 crore (about $1.1 million) in India, making it the lowest opening for any film in the YRF Spy Universe. While collections improved slightly over the first weekend, ticket sales dropped sharply afterward.
The film also received mixed-to-negative reviews, limiting positive word-of-mouth and making it difficult to attract larger audiences in the weeks that followed.
Although Yash Raj Films never officially disclosed the movie's production budget, industry observers believe Alpha was an expensive production. In addition to Alia Bhatt, the film featured Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, and a special appearance by Hrithik Roshan, signaling a significant investment in both cast and scale.
During the interview, Singh argued that audiences ultimately reward engaging storytelling over expensive productions.
"The story has to be correct and it has to be mounted right," he said.
Discussing female-led action films more broadly, Singh added, "I could imagine a Deepika Padukone being an aggressive revenge taker and Madhuri Dixit in her olden days, in a different way… You don’t have to be sword and guns, you can take revenge. Women are powerful. Violence doesn’t have to be physical, it can be mental too."
His comments come as Bollywood continues to evaluate why several high-profile films have underperformed despite star-studded casts and large production budgets. For Alpha, the disappointing box office run has become part of that broader conversation about whether audiences are placing greater value on compelling stories than spectacle alone.
