Actress and content creator Ishitta Arun was seen with her family at the funeral of her mama and advertising industry veteran Piyush Pandey, who passed away on Friday owing to illness.
However, a video of Ishitta Arun went viral on social media, which showed her smiling and chatting during the funeral. She received backlash on the internet, with her actions dubbed as inappropriate.
Following the criticism, Ishitta has now responded to the backlash, explaining that she was laughing to celebrate her uncle's extravagant personality.
Ishitta took to her Instagram Story and reacted to the criticism. She wrote, “Grief isn't a single script. And when you're saying goodbye to a man who laughed louder than anyone else, remembering him through laughter isn't disrespect. It's continuity. It's muscle memory. It's knowing who he really was.”
Ishitta clarified that the footage showed her remembering a joke Piyush Pandey had told.
She said, “What you saw was us laughing at his line – a line only he could deliver. If you had known him, even in passing, you wouldn’t have needed this explained.”
The actress elaborated, “We don't stage grief. We don't mute memory to make strangers comfortable. We remember him honestly—as laughter, courage, and life itself. Next time - know the story before you comment on the moment.”
Ishitta recalled her early years in Mumbai with Piyush Pandey and said, “We lived in a small two-bedroom flat in Santacruz (East), and as an only child, I suddenly had my first and only roommate. I'd wait all day for him to return from OBM, singing at the top of my lungs, like a malfunctioning radio with confidence but no tuning. One day, he lost his patience and said, 'Main tumhe ulta pankhe se latka doonga.' For me, it was Tuesday. For him, a breakdown.”
Piyush Pandey, a prominent figure in Indian advertising, passed away on Friday at the age of 70 from complications from pneumonia.
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