Imtiaz Ali’s romantic drama Main Vaapas Aaunga continues to hold steady in its third week at the domestic box office, posting a notable uptick on Tuesday. The film brought in an estimated Rs 1.65 crore net on day 17, translating to a 20 percent jump over its Monday numbers. That single-day addition has pushed the third week’s running total to roughly Rs 14 crore, with trade watchers projecting the week could close somewhere between Rs 17 crore and Rs 19 crore net — a hold considered strong for a film well into its third week of release.

With Tuesday’s collection factored in, the movie’s overall India total now stands at Rs 46.75 crore net. That figure puts it on track to cross the psychologically important Rs 50 crore mark during its fourth weekend in theatres. However, that milestone weekend will coincide with the arrival of a major new release, Alpha, which is expected to eat into screen availability and footfalls for older titles, including Main Vaapas Aaunga.

Headlined by Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina and Sharvari, the film has earned praise for its writing and performances since release, and current trends suggest it has a realistic shot at finishing its theatrical run somewhere in the Rs 65 crore to Rs 70 crore net range domestically. Reaching that ceiling won’t be straightforward, though, since the film will need to keep drawing audiences even after Alpha and, later, Dhamaal 4 open in the coming weeks and compete for the same shows.

Overseas performance will also factor into the final tally, and here the picture is more muted — the film has been getting comparatively limited screen space in international markets. Given the positive word of mouth it has generated, a finish in the USD 4 million to USD 5 million range overseas once looked achievable; now, even reaching the USD 3 million mark would count as a solid result.

Here’s a quick look at how the film has performed week by week: its opening week brought in Rs 11.50 crore net, followed by a stronger Rs 21.25 crore in week two. The third week began with Rs 2.65 crore on Friday, climbed to Rs 4.10 crore on Saturday and Rs 4.25 crore on Sunday, before settling into weekday numbers of Rs 1.35 crore on Monday and the estimated Rs 1.65 crore on Tuesday — bringing the running total to Rs 46.75 crore net.