Talking about her husband, Dhruv Ghanekar, Ishitta Arun says with a chuckle, “He was everything I would never go for, but he was everything I was meant to be with.” Dhruv has recently released his album, Voyage 2, while Ishitta is known for her roles in series and movies like Scoop (2023) and Rana Naidu (2023). She loves to travel with Dhruv and their two children, but the top priority on her bucket list is “absolute success and happiness for Dhruv. I want to see him where he belongs — the international stage.”
Q. How and when did you meet your husband Dhruv?
A. It’s a really funny and filmy story. We first interacted when I was six and he was eleven, during the shooting of Shyam Benegal’s Trikal. He was essaying the role of KK Raina and Anita Kanwar’s son along with his brother. Both were child actors. I had accompanied my mother (Ila Arun); she was part of the cast. And the fun trivia is that most of our family was in that movie! My brother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my uncle-in-law were all there. My mother-in-law was also present, and the sets of Trikal were the place where we met. What’s more, my grandfather and Dhruv’s grandfather were banking colleagues, and his mother and my mother were in college together. His uncle (my mother-in-law’s brother) played the lead opposite my mother in a college play.
Q. What is your takeaway from the time you spent there?
A. I am told that during the shoot, I threatened to jump into the well if both Joy and Dhruv didn’t marry me. I often think that I should have asked for something bigger, considering it is one of the things God heard me out on (laughs).
Q. When did you meet Dhruv next?
A. I met him again in 2004 when he was composing music for my mum. He was sweet, and it was as if we were meeting anew.
Q. What are the qualities that attracted you to him?
A. Dhruv’s childlike love of art and music, and his extensive knowledge on varied topics across the board. I like the way he carries himself; his class. And he is the life of the room.
Q. Who took the initiative to get to know each other better?
A. When we met again in 2004, I was keen on buying his house. He laid off an already ready buyer and, guess what, I couldn’t go through with the deal! We started a conversation from there and went on to discuss our common love — music. I realised he had a very wide vocabulary in music, so I took an interest in ‘new’ sorts of music to kind of thaw him and get him to talk to me, and there was no looking back after that.
Q. Where was the first date?
A. Dhruv, very casually, like a musician, said, “Let’s go for dinner at Mezzo Mezzo at the Marriott.” Actually, it wasn’t a date; it was more a meet-and-greet because I was Ila ji’s daughter.
Q. Who said I love you first?
A. I’m sure it was me.
Q. How did Dhruv propose?
A. My mum secretly wanted us to be together. He asked me to go to Pune with him, and I took permission from her. She said, “Okay,” but got really anxious and called his mother, saying, “What the hell is he doing?” His mom gave him an ultimatum, “You have a very notorious past, so don’t mess around with my friend’s daughter.” He said, “I’m not. I want to marry her,” and that’s how the proposal happened.
Q. Who is more possessive between the two?
A. I am more protective, I would say, not possessive.
Q. Who is short-tempered between the two?
A. We both are short-tempered.
Q. Who is the funnier one?
A. Dhruv is definitely the funnier one. He is the muse for most of my comedy. I am serious when I'm within our space because I have to become the practical mum. But when I’m alone, I’m the funnier one.
Q. Who is the cleanliness freak?
A. He is. I have bouts of cleanliness.
Q. How has the relationship changed from the time you both were girlfriend and boyfriend to husband and wife, and now parents?
A. Now we are a family of four. It's beautiful, waking up next to this person who annoys the hell out of you and may have stinky breath, but you love him nonetheless. And you have no qualms going into the loo after him.
.avif)
