There’s something deeply nostalgic about walking into a Vikram Bhatt horror film. The flickering lights. The cold mountain air seeping through the screen. The feeling that something is watching you from a dark corner of an old Indian mansion. And now, fifteen years after Haunted 3D first rattled multiplexes across the country, that chill is back — or at least, it’s trying very hard to be.

Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past released on 12 June 2026, carrying on its shoulders both the legacy of the original franchise and the weight of audience expectations that have grown considerably more sophisticated since 2011. The big question on everyone’s mind: does this echo resonate, or does it fade into silence?

I sat through all 2 hours and 20 minutes of this film so you don’t have to wonder blind. Here’s my honest, no-spoiler take — with a few spoiler-light observations where necessary.

What Is Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past About?

The premise is elegantly simple, almost old-fashioned in the best possible way. A man — broken, haunted by his own past, and looking to disappear from the world — finds refuge in a remote mansion nestled in the Indian mountains. It’s the kind of place you’d find in old Bollywood: grand staircases, peeling wallpaper, rooms that haven’t been touched in decades, and a right-side wing with doors that seem to have a life of their own.

What he doesn’t expect is that the house has its own stories to tell. Sinister secrets. Echoes of a tragedy from a century past. And a woman — Sunheri, played by Chetna Pande — who seems to exist in a time that doesn’t quite align with the present. That’s where the film finds its most intriguing hook: what if you’re not just haunted by ghosts, but by an entire century?

There’s also a flashback sequence that evokes the style of Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Bhooth Bangla — those slow-burn reveals where the horror starts making sense emotionally, not just narratively. When it works, it really works.

The 3D Experience: Is It Worth Wearing Those Glasses?

This is, after all, a Haunted 3D film. The 3D is in the name. So let’s talk about it honestly.

The original Haunted 3D (2011) was a genuine novelty — jump scares that felt like they were reaching out of the screen, an immersive haunted house experience that audiences hadn’t quite felt in Hindi cinema before. Fifteen years later, the bar has moved. Audiences have seen what Avatar did with 3D. They know the difference between immersive depth and cheap gimmicks.

In Echoes of the Past, the 3D is a mixed bag. Some sequences — particularly the scenes involving the mysterious right wing of the mansion — use depth and shadow effectively. You genuinely feel like you’re peering into a darkness that doesn’t want to be seen. But in other moments, especially during the VFX-heavy climax, the 3D becomes distracting rather than immersive. The visual effects, unfortunately, lean too heavily on digital tools that haven’t been refined enough for the big screen, and the result can pull you out of the experience at exactly the moments when you should be most absorbed.

My honest recommendation: watch it in 3D if you can, especially in the first half. The setting and atmosphere reward the format. But don’t go in expecting Avatar-level spectacle.

Cast Performances: Who Shines and Who Struggles?

The performances in Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past are, to put it simply, uneven. And in a horror film, unevenness in performance is particularly costly — because so much of the terror depends on you believing the fear in an actor’s eyes.

Mimoh Chakraborty

Mimoh Chakraborty, the film’s lead, carries the burden of being our window into this nightmare. He’s a man broken by grief, and the film needs us to feel that grief before the scares arrive. The challenge here is that Mimoh goes noticeably stiff in several key scenes — particularly the early sequences where we’re meant to connect with his emotional state. There are moments where the performance clicks into something more raw and genuine, but they’re outnumbered by moments where the delivery feels rehearsed rather than felt.

Chetna Pande

The real surprise — and the film’s true asset — is Chetna Pande. She’s magnetic. Her role as Sunheri requires her to exist in a kind of ethereal space between past and present, and she handles it with a restraint and layered quality that this kind of horror-romance demands. Watch her carefully in the right-wing window scene: it’s a master class in building dread without saying a word.

Praneet Bhatt

The other performance worth highlighting is Praneet Bhatt as Vikrat. He’s the film’s surprise package — a role that seems secondary early on but grows into something far more significant. Natural, grounded, and never trying too hard, he’s the kind of actor who makes you want to see more of him.

Shruti Prakash

Shruti Prakash as Yamini Jairam — the character responsible for that unforgettable window scene — is dependable and holds her own in a role that requires a delicate balance of terror and mystery.

Direction and Screenplay: Old-School Craft Meets New-Age Missteps

Vikram Bhatt knows how to build dread. That much is clear from the first act of Echoes of the Past. He resists the temptation to throw everything at the screen immediately — a discipline that many modern horror directors seem to have abandoned. He takes his time. He lets the mansion breathe. He lets silence do the heavy lifting. And for large stretches of the film, especially the first hour, it genuinely works.

The screenplay, however, is where the cracks begin to show. The story has a strong premise and a genuinely intriguing central mystery, but the writing doesn’t always connect the dots in satisfying ways. Some of the dialogue, while charming in places, tips over into melodrama when the film needs subtlety. And the climax — the moment where everything is meant to pay off — lands with far less impact than the build-up deserves. It’s a familiar problem with Bhatt films: the journey is often more memorable than the destination.

One element that does work wonderfully is the callback to the original Haunted 3D. The idea that Sunheri exists in a different century ties the two films together in a way that fans of the franchise will find deeply satisfying. It’s the kind of connective tissue that says: this story has been continuing all along.

Music: A Missed Opportunity

Horror films live and die by their soundscapes. The whisper of a melody in an empty hallway. A music box playing a tune no one wound up. The right score can make an otherwise ordinary scene unforgettable.

Unfortunately, the music in Echoes of the Past is one of the film’s weakest elements. None of the songs manage to leave a lasting impression, which is a significant letdown given Vikram Bhatt’s history with haunting, memorable soundtracks. The background score does a serviceable job in building tension during the horror sequences, but the songs themselves feel like they belong to a different, lesser film — generic, forgettable, and occasionally working against the atmosphere the direction is trying to build.

Why Haunted 3D Still Matters to Bollywood Horror

Let’s step back for a moment. In 2011, Haunted 3D did something genuinely rare in Bollywood: it delivered a horror experience that was both emotionally grounded and viscerally frightening. It wasn’t just jump scares. It was a ghost story with a heart — a romance that spanned time, a tragedy that echoed through the decades. And it was in 3D at a time when that format still felt like magic.

Fifteen years is a long time. Bollywood horror has evolved, stumbled, and found new footing in that period. Films like Stree, Bhediya, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 have redefined what Indian audiences expect from the genre — blending horror with comedy, mythology, and social commentary. Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past doesn’t try to do any of that. It’s resolutely, almost defiantly, old-school.

And there’s something admirable about that. In a landscape crowded with self-aware horror comedies, there’s a quiet dignity to a film that simply tries to scare you with a haunted house, a tragic love story, and a mystery that unfolds slowly over two-plus hours. It doesn’t always succeed. But it’s trying to do something real.

Box Office: How Is It Performing?

The film opened to a ₹2.50 crore collection on Day 1 — a solid start for a mid-budget horror release, and notably ahead of some other films releasing around the same period. The opening suggests that nostalgia for the Haunted 3D franchise is real, and that there’s a substantial audience hungry for old-school Bollywood horror.

Whether the film has the legs to sustain itself through word-of-mouth will depend on whether audiences who see it in the first week share their experience enthusiastically enough. Positive audience response, particularly about the emotional core of the story and the first-half scares, could position Echoes of the Past as a profitable venture — especially when you factor in its OTT life, which for a film like this can be substantial.

Frequently Asked Questions About Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past

Is Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past a sequel to the original Haunted 3D (2011)?

Yes, it’s a continuation of the Haunted 3D franchise. The film shares thematic DNA with the original and connects to it through a storyline involving characters trapped across different centuries. Fans of the 2011 film will find familiar echoes (pun intended) in the new story.

Who is the director of Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past?

The film is directed by Vikram Bhatt and co-directed by Manish P. Chavan. Vikram Bhatt is the creator of the original Haunted 3D and has long been associated with Bollywood’s horror genre.

Is Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past available in languages other than Hindi?

Yes. The film released simultaneously in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil, making it accessible across a broader Indian audience.

Should I watch Haunted 3D in 2D or 3D?

We recommend the 3D format for the theatrical experience, particularly for the first half of the film where the haunted mansion setting uses depth and shadow effectively. However, the 3D quality is uneven in the climax, so it’s not a dealbreaker if 3D isn’t available near you.

What is Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past’s OTT release date?

An official OTT release date has not been announced at the time of writing. Given the film’s theatrical run and box office momentum, expect an OTT announcement in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on official announcements from Anand Pandit Motion Pictures.