'One Two Three' has turned out to be a success and for many in the industry it has been nothing less than a pleasant surprise.

After all not many expected an underdog comedy like 'One Two Three', which was panned unanimously by all the critics, to even sail through past the safety mark let alone turn out to be a money spinner.

However, the trade figures have caught everyone by surprise with close to 20 crores coming in collections just from the Indian market.

Says Tusshar Kapoor, lead star of 'One Two Three', in an exhilarated tone, "If success in India was not just good enough, it is the overseas run of the film which has been simply fantabulous.

'One Two Three' now stands as my biggest success in overseas ever while in India, too, it is second only to 'Shoot Out At Lokhandwala'."

Did the film's all around success come to him as a surprise? Especially so after there were not too many kind words in the media about the film which centered on lingerie jokes.

"Thankfully I had seen the film a day before it's release and hence was confident about it's success regardless of critic's opinions. Of course, if I wouldn't have seen the film, I would have died as I would have believed the critics.

Come on yaar, everyone out there gave a one or one and a half stars rating, let aside a 2 star rating", jokes Tusshar.

Has the experience left a bitter taste in his mouth when it comes to critics?

"See, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion; after all they have a job to do. However, what I have always maintained is that it is the word of mouth from the audience which ultimately matters.

Even though 'One Two Three' had a decent start on it's release, it is the word of mouth from the audience which helped it turn out to be a good success", explains Tusshar whose next comic outing is 'C Kkompany'.

After a very good fortnight, one can see a drop in the collections of this Ashwani Dheer film. Is it alarming?

"Not at all", says Tusshar with a smile, "The film was released at a huge number of prints and with dozens of shows running in parallel, it exhausted all the audience it possibly could within first few days itself.

Now it is running in smaller centers and though collections may not read crores, they are substantial enough to continue adding on to the eventual total."

Apart from 'C Kkompany', some of the other films where Tusshar would be seen this year are 'Golmaal Returns' and 'Do Lucky'. He has also been signed by Abbas-Mustan and Apoorva Lakhia for their next films. - Joginder Tuteja