My two cents on the whole Alpha and yrf spy universe debate and how Dhurandhar has influenced that particular sphere of cinema is that these movies are two inherently different genres.
Dhurandhar was a dramatised and cinematised and embellished version of a story borrowed from reality. Which means that it’s not all fake but it’s not all real either. It’s meant to highlight or rather portray things that “have” happened irl in a fictionalised setting in a kinda movie story line to interest audiences. This genre is very popular in India. This does NOT discredit it nor does it make it ‘propoganda’.
Movies like Alpha or Tiger or Pathaan are NOT meant to show any ‘real’ situation at all. It is meant to be an ENTIRELY fictional story for pure enjoyment and nothing else. HOWEVER, because these movies use very real scenarios like the situation betwixt India-pak, (which is a popular trope in USA as well, with a lot of their movies having Russian, Chinese or German villains referencing the wwII and Cold War rivalries) they face a lot of scrutiny. Personally, I kinda agree with a lot of the criticism, the situation between India and its surrounding countries is not one that can be cinematised in the way these movies do. How are you showing RAW and ISI agents having an enemies to lovers story line when there are still terror attacks in India.
To be honest, I quite like the movies, alpha had good fight scenes though I felt the dialogues were passé and cringe and the plot was not to my liking. But the best way to handle the sensitive situation while ensuring cultural sensitivity is observed is by doing what Jigra did. Make it entirely fictional, no need to involve any real state, especially not one which has problematic relations with India.
