Vikram Bhatt reacts to ‘Haunted 3D’ beating ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ at box office amid AI use criticism: ‘I’m not surprised’
The horror franchise film ‘Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’ has turned out to be the surprise winner among last week’s batch of Hindi releases – ‘Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata’, ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’, and ‘Governor’. Going up against high-profile dramas, the supernatural film has managed to pull ahead in collections and currently leads the weekend box office race.
Vikram Bhatt reacts to the film’s box office performance
Speaking to News 18, director Vikram Bhatt shared that he wasn’t surprised by the film’s strong showing, even though several people felt the movie hadn’t been promoted aggressively enough. He explained that the marketing campaign was designed keeping a specific audience in mind, rather than going for a wide, expensive push.He said, “No, I’m not (surprised). Because the film was promoted. But it was promoted where we thought we should promote it. Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t have the budget to carpet bomb. So we targeted that audience that we knew would come for the film.”
Why the promotion strategy was different
The director further revealed that hoardings for the film were put up, but the team consciously avoided going overboard with promotions. He said this was because they viewed ‘Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’ as a mass film, and believed that ticket sales would come from that specific audience base rather than from a broad metro-centric campaign. Bhatt added that trade experts may have overlooked the film’s promotional efforts simply because the marketing wasn’t aimed at them or at major metro cities on a large scale. “We were clear about that,” the director added.
Box office
‘Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’ has earned Rs 18.91 crore gross and Rs 16.12 crore net in India so far. In comparison, Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ has collected Rs 14.60 crore gross and Rs 12.25 crore net during the same period.Starring Mahaakshay Chakraborty, the film was released in theatres on June 12, 2026.
