All eyes on Alia and Alpha. But coming out of syllabus will be Shraddha Kapoor.

YRF has played it smart. Toxicity around Alia Bhatt, which is drawing equal amounts of polarised reactions, has led to Alpha becoming a talking point. From the restaurant scene with Bobby Deol on Alia’s 18th birthday coming straight out of Luc Bresson’s French thriller La Femme Nikita (1990) and the “wolves and sheep” dialogue having its origin in the military drama American Sniper (2014), to Alia’s physiognomy making her an unsuitable girl for the kind of hardcore action that Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde), Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider) or Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) carried off with credibility, the chatter converges on Alpha. Even amusement over Uday Chopra getting credit for “original story” and the pre-release censure that YRF was once again coming up with a story based on their favourite theme of an Indian teaming with a Pakistani agent (reference: Tiger and Pathaan), have increased the clicks for Alpha. Good or bad, any talk that lets the curiosity build works well for a film. And with five days to go, there is preliminary excitement over Alpha.

But while Aditya Chopra’s spy universe may expand with a pair of skilled fighting women in the lead + Hrithik Roshan for that little extra, it is Shraddha Kapoor with her barely-talked-about film Eetha that may emerge as the feminist of the season.

The first signs of something big cooking in Dinesh Vijan’s production office came when one heard that he had paid Shraddha Kapoor ₹15 crore for his new film, unheard of for a heroine of her standing. Shraddha had reportedly got five for Stree 2.

Shraddha has had an interesting career. Never right at the top with Deepika Padukone, who is one year older and professionally a senior, or with Alia, who’s chronologically younger and debuted a couple of years after Shraddha. But Alia and Shraddha have had a somewhat parallel run after Student Of The Year (2012) and Aashiqui 2 (2013) put the spotlight on them. While Alia went on to win rave attention from critics and the box office (Highway, 2 States, Raazi, Gangubai Kathiawadi), Shraddha has had an unbroken spell with Chhichhore (2019), Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (2023) and Stree 2 (2024).

Both products of film families, acting is in their blood. Alia’s mom Soni Razdan is an actor; Shraddha’s mother Shivangi aspired to be one. Aunts Padmini and Tejaswini Kolhapure are actresses, and everybody knows dad Shakti Kapoor. Fifteen years ago, it was Shivangi who took the reins of Shraddha’s life, steered her into the studios and shepherded her until her takeoff with Aashiqui 2.

It is interesting that this season, Alia and Shraddha will have their female-oriented films making a point but in two different worlds. YRF’s glossy spy universe is familiar; Shraddha’s Eetha has a backdrop of lavani and tamasha known only in Maharashtra. The vibrant lavani, which tantalises the male audience with its raunchiness, is the older sister of item songs. Imagine a dancer going backstage to deliver her baby and returning minutes later to continue regaling her audience. That’s the story of legendary Vithabai Narayangaonkar on whom Eetha is based.

Coming from the Chhaava team of producer Dinesh Vijan and director Laxman Utekar, it is a rare privilege that has come Shraddha’s way; the kind of role that would once have gone to Madhuri Dixit. Unlike Chhaava where A.R. Rahman couldn’t produce an authentic Maharashtrian tune, Eetha’s dances, marked by an animated trademark rhythm, have music by Ajay-Atul, who know the flavour of the state. Shraddha is also a Maharashtrian mulgi, lavani and tamasha are not alien words for her. But months of sweat and blood had to be shed to get that act right, to master those dance moves like a professional tease.

Between young mother Alia, who went into international-level stunts training one-and-a half years after giving birth to Raha, and Shraddha with Vithabai, women from different worlds will be staking their place in Hindi cinema.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author