Mayasabha - The Hall of Illusion just pulled off a wild turnaround at the Indian box office. On Day 2, this psychological thriller directed by Rahi Anil Barve (yes, the guy behind Tumbbad) raked in ₹25 lakhs, almost double its Day 1 total of ₹13.5 lakhs. Not bad for a film that barely had any screens and had to fight for attention alongside biggies like Mardaani 3 and Border 2.

Mayasabha opened on January 30, 2026 with Jaaved Jaaferi, Veena Jamkar, Deepak Damle, and Mohammad Samad leading the cast. The plot? A family gets trapped inside a mystical place full of illusions, a mix of fantasy, horror, and some surprisingly raw emotion. Early trade chatter pegged its opening as weak, mostly thanks to a low-key promo run and stiff competition. But after the first shows, word spread fast. Suddenly, the reviews were glowing and people started to show up.

Let’s talk numbers. Day 1 brought in ₹13.5 lakhs, pretty dismal for a Bollywood outing in 2026. Rani Mukerji’s Mardaani 3 stormed in with over ₹4 crores, while Sunny Deol’s Border 2 closed in on ₹250 crores in just its first week. Against these heavyweights, Mayasabha looked lost. But Day 2 flipped the script. Urban centers like Mumbai and Delhi saw packed afternoon and evening shows, pushing the Day 2 total to ₹25 lakhs. That puts the two-day haul at ₹38.5 lakhs, with global earnings nudging ₹45 lakhs (most of it from India, honestly).

What’s the crowd saying? Critics and audiences both seem intrigued. Barve’s visual style and the movie’s tense atmosphere are getting plenty of praise. Some are calling it “ambitious but underwhelming in parts,” but they singled out Jaaferi’s performance as a highlight. S trong word-of-mouth can help it break even if this momentum keeps going.

Still, Mayasabha isn’t home free yet. With a budget somewhere around ₹1 crore, most of it poured into VFX and set design, it needs to hit at least ₹2-3 crores lifetime to turn a real profit. And the competition isn’t letting up. But if families start showing up this weekend thanks to all the buzz, Mayasabha could quietly become a sleeper hit, kind of like Tumbbad did.

Honestly, the early numbers show there’s still room in Bollywood for original thrillers. If the word keeps spreading, Mayasabha might just pull off a surprise and stick around at the box office. Keep an eye out, this one’s got some tricks left up its sleeve.