Vikram Bhatt on ‘Haunted 3D’ beating ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ amid AI debate: ‘I’m not surprised’

Horror film ‘Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’ turned out to be the surprise winner among the batch of Hindi releases last week – ‘Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata’, ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ and ‘Governor’.

Up against high-profile dramas, the supernatural thriller has managed to advance in the collections and is currently leading the weekend box office race.

Vikram Bhatt Interacts with the film Box office performance

Speaking to News 18, director Vikram Bhatt said he was not surprised by the film’s strong showing, although many people felt the film was not promoted aggressively enough. He explained that the marketing campaign was designed with a specific audience in mind, rather than going for a broad and expensive campaign.He said, “No, I’m not (surprised). Because the movie was promoted. But it was promoted where we thought we should promote it. Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t have the budget for carpet bombing. So we targeted that audience that we knew would come to see the movie.”

Why was the promotion strategy different?

The director also revealed that billboards were put up for the film, but the team deliberately avoided going overboard with the promotions. That’s because they viewed “Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past” as an ensemble film, he said, and thought ticket sales would come from that specific audience base rather than a broad, metro-centric campaign.

Bhatt added that trade experts may have overlooked the film’s promotional efforts simply because the marketing was not directed at them or major metro cities on a large scale. “We have been clear about that,” the manager added.

box office

‘Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’ has grossed Rs 18.91 crore and net Rs 16.12 crore in India so far. In comparison, Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ has grossed Rs 14.60 crore and net Rs 12.25 crore during the same period.The film, starring Mahaakshay Chakraborty, will be released in theaters on June 12, 2026.