There were two things that almost happened simultaneously ever since Golmaal Returns hit the screens on Wednesday. While the film opened to almost full houses all over, the critics gave it thumbs down.

The trend continued with every passing day till Sunday where the collections remained very good while reviews ranged between average to bad. Did this hurt the film?

Well, as is the situation today - not at all. Golmaal Returns is busy earning mega bucks and no one but Rohit Shetty, the captain of the ship, is busy grinning from ear to ear.

"Critics laughed at the film. Audience is laughing with the film. And now it's my turn to laugh along with the film's success", says the amused director who is clearly having fun with many people from media suddenly turning silent with the film's success.

"Haan, ab sab chup ho gaye hain", jokes Rohit, "Though on paper it seems like an advantage to have a 5-day weekend, the fact is that eventually you have to stay strong on all the days. I am happy that even after a whopping initial that the film took between Wednesday to Friday, the film continued to do well on Saturday and Sunday as well."

But what really made critics go hammers and tongs at the film? After all he had all along maintained that it was a nonsensical slapstick comedy?

"Search me", says Rohit in a bemused tone, "I guess it was a herd mentality. Ek bola, sab saath ho liye! But seriously, so many of the reviewers too hardly come with any credibility whatsoever. There is so much that happens behind the scenes even when it comes to reviews and reviewers.

There is no point name taking, especially when audience is clearly enjoying my film."

Did he sense something like this happening to Golmaal Returns? Was that the reason he didn't even keep any pre-release screenings?

"True, I wanted those who were interested in the film to come and watch it at theaters when it released on Wednesday. Why to unnecessarily expose your film to some harm even before its release? It's unwarranted", comments Rohit.

Though quite a few reviews thought that the film carried below the belt humor, children seem to be thoroughly enjoying the outing.

"Yup, that was indeed the target audience. I don't know why critics missed the point that Golmaal Returns was meant to be a slapstick comedy and there was nothing which was offensive for the children. In fact I had toned down the film so much just so that the film becomes suitable for the family audience."

How exactly? "Well, Ajay Devgan-Celina Jaitley sequence on the yacht was supposed to be a seductive duet but I dropped the idea and made it a funny dance sequence with just background music in play.

Censors gave the film a 'U' certificate, families are loving the film, children are laughing at the jokes but critics? Aaah, now what can I say", shurgs Rohit.

Meanwhile the star of the show, Tusshar Kapoor, is sadly missing all the action as he is currently stationed in Cape Town. Cued to the reports trickling in around the success of the film, he wishes that he was in Mumbai to catch all the action.

"Yeah man, wish I was there. I am continuing to get all the reviews and compliments and I am glad the film has been received so well. I was always confident about the film but then you never know how audience reacts to the film", says Tusshar who is all set to be bestowed with all the awards for the 'Best Actor in a Comic Role' when 2008 comes ending.

"I wish, I wish", Tusshar says softly, "I am plain happy to have this success to my name. I now look forward to being in Mumbai with the cast, crew, my friends and family to enjoy this success. Maybe team 'Golmaal' would have a success party soon and I would fly over."

Arshad Warsi is upset that he didn't have much to do in the film. "Forget it yaar, I have said what I had to say. If he feels betrayed then fine. He won't feature in Golmaal 3", signs off Rohit.