Hollywood horror-thriller Obsession dominated the Indian box office in its third weekend, earning ₹14.75 crore and reaching ₹64.65 crore net, surpassing the Michael biopic and eyeing Project Hail Mary’s record. Among new Hindi releases, Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted 3D shocked trade by nearly doubling the weekend collections of Imtiaz Ali’s heavily promoted Main Vaapas Aaunga despite weaker reviews.
Depending on how one looks at the metrics, the Indian box-office over the weekend was either at its erratic best or simply performing exactly the way it historically has: delivering a reality check that marketing optics and traditional campaigns cannot explain. The biggest story of the weekend was a multi-week Hollywood holdover. In its third weekend, the horror-thriller Obsession punched in significantly higher numbers than the new Hindi releases.
Meanwhile, Vikram Bhatt’s horror Haunted 3D Echoes of the Past pulled off a major trade surprise, netting nearly double the weekend collections of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s highly-awaited (and promoted) partition drama, Main Vaapas Aaunga.
The battle for showcasing between the two Hindi releases revealed a sharp divide in exhibition strategy. Despite Imtiaz Ali’s project boasting a popular ensemble—headlined by Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina, and Sharvari—it opened across roughly 2,300 shows.
In contrast, Bhatt’s horror vehicle commanded an additional 600 screens at launch. Backed by strong initial occupancy in mass pockets, Haunted 3D saw its screen count expand over Saturday and Sunday, completely overpowering Main Vaapas Aaunga despite the latter receiving vastly superior critical reviews.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Haunted 3D collected ₹9.35 crore net over its three-day opening weekend. The film opened at ₹2.50 crore on Friday, followed by a steady upward trend on Saturday (₹3.25 crore) and Sunday (₹3.60 crore).
Haunted 3D maintained a clear lead on all three days over Main Vaapas Aaunga, which faltered on day one with a low ₹1.15 crore opening. While Ali's film showed positive growth over the weekend—netting ₹1.85 crore on Saturday and ₹2.50 crore on Sunday—its total first weekend stood at a muted ₹5.50 crore net.
Filmmaker Curry Barker’s Obsession continues its sensational, untamed run in the Indian market. Led by Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston, the word-of-mouth juggernaut closed its third weekend on an incredible high, pulling in ₹14.75 crore.
To date, Obsession has amassed a whopping ₹64.65 crore net in India, officially overtaking the domestic lifetime figures of the high-profile Michael Jackson biopic, Michael.
The film is now firmly on track to challenge Ryan Gosling’s global sci-fi blockbuster Project Hail Mary (which holds the current 2026 record in India at ₹75 crore net) to become the highest-grossing Hollywood title of the year in the domestic market.
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi drama Disclosure Day and the global horror sensation Backrooms were the other Hollywood releases of the week, pulling in ₹6.40 crore and ₹3.65 crore, respectively, over the weekend.
Bharat Bhagya Vidhaata, the Kangana Ranaut-headlined drama, minted just a little over ₹4.00 crore while Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Governor netted ₹3.45 crore.