Is Alia's Alpha a copy of French thriller La Femme Nikita? Fans spot similarity

The teaser for the upcoming film Alpha, starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, has set social media buzzing – but not solely for its action-packed visuals. Soon after the teaser dropped on Wednesday, several viewers began drawing comparisons between key moments in the film and Luc Besson's 1990 French thriller La Femme Nikita, while others pointed to similarities with a well-known dialogue from American Sniper.

The teaser opens with a young Alia sharing a meal with Bobby Deol. As he wishes her on her 18th birthday, he hands her a card bearing a room number and tells her it is time to put her years of training to use. The teaser then shifts into a montage of action sequences, suggesting that Bobby's character has spent years grooming her into a deadly spy.

It is this opening stretch that has prompted comparisons with La Femme Nikita. Directed by Luc Besson, the French classic follows Nikita, a troubled young woman who is secretly recruited by a government agency after being arrested for murder. Her death is staged, and she undergoes years of rigorous training before emerging as a skilled assassin tasked with carrying out covert missions.

Watch the teaser here:

Viewers were quick to point out similarities between the two films' restaurant sequences. In Alpha, Bobby Deol's character takes his daughter, played by Alia Bhatt, to a fine-dining restaurant on her 18th birthday, where she is assigned her first mission. Initially expecting a birthday celebration, she is left disappointed before eventually accepting the assignment.

Fans noted that La Femme Nikita features a scene with a similar setup. In the French film, Bob, played by Tchky Karyo, takes Nikita, played by Anne Parillaud, to an upscale restaurant. What begins as an evening out soon turns into a mission briefing when he hands her a gun and instructs her to eliminate targets at the venue.

The similarities quickly became a talking point online. One social media user shared the scene 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."

Another user claimed, "The opening scene is copied 90% from the scene in Luc Besson's action classic La Femme Nikita. The plot is also similar."

The teaser has also sparked discussion around a wolf-and-sheep analogy delivered by Bobby Deol's character while training Alia's spy. Some viewers argued that the dialogue echoed a similar analogy featured in Clint Eastwood's 2014 war drama American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper.

One cinema enthusiast wrote, "Alpha didn't copy American Sniper; it just got a little too inspired by it. Maybe YRF should hunt for fresh talent instead of familiar dialogue."

See some reactions here:

Directed by Shiv Rawail, Alpha marks the first female-led instalment in Yash Raj Films' Spy Universe. The teaser introduces Alia Bhatt's character as a highly trained operative and hints at a complex mentor-protege/father-daughter relationship with Bobby Deol's character.

Produced by Yash Raj Films and backed by Aditya Chopra, Alpha also stars Sharvari and Bobby Deol. The film is part of the YRF Spy Universe, which includes Ek Tha Tiger, Pathaan and War.

The film is set for a grand theatrical release on July 3, 2026.