Actor and content creator Ishitta Arun found herself in the eye of a social media storm after a video surfaced showing her smiling and chatting during the funeral of her uncle, advertising legend Piyush Pandey. Critics deemed her behaviour inappropriate, prompting Ishitta to address the backlash on Instagram, clarifying that laughter was her way of celebrating her uncle’s larger-than-life spirit.
“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,” she wrote in a series of social media.
Ishitta explained that the moment caught on camera captured her recalling a joke Pandey had made. “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 (sic),” she added.
She further stated, “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 (sic).”
Reflecting on her memories with Pandey, Ishitta recalled their early days together in Mumbai. “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,” she reminisced.
Piyush Pandey, a pioneering figure in Indian advertising, died on Friday at the age of 70 due to pneumonia complications.
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