Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; April 24, 2019)

Ishita Dutta is often asked questions about her actress sister Tanushree Dutta, who took Bollywood by storm by initiating the #MeToo campaign in India, last year. While Ishita doesn’t mind fielding queries about her sister, she also wants the focus to be on her work. The actress is now set to return to daily soap three years after Rishton Ka Saudagar – Baazigar ended. She has been roped in to play the heroine in the second season of Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki.

She says, “I am excited about returning to the daily soap genre after three years. I also feel the pressure because the first season of the show did well. My responsibility is to make sure that people like my character just as they liked the previous characters. I play Palak, who is is a girl of today. She is a go-getter and looks for solutions rather than sulking over problems. She is independent, smart, intelligent and full of life. She is very much like me.”

The actress is balancing two mediums — TV and films. Ask her about the three year break from television and she replies, “I bagged the film, Firangi, after Baazigar wrapped up. I couldn’t commit myself to a TV show due to my films. TV takes up all your time, and you can’t do anything else when you are shooting for a show.”

In between, she was seen with her real husband, actor Vatsal Sheth, in the supernatural show, Kaun Hai. Ishita and Vatsal — her co-actor in Baazigar — tied the knot last year. Talking about her experience of working with him after marriage, she says, “I was very excited about working with Vatsal again in Kaun Hai. I have always shared a great comfort level with him, right from the look test for Baazigar, which is when I first met him. We hit it off instantly and would have a lot of fun during the shoot. We would chat a lot and that’s how we got to know each other. Of course, it was better when I worked with him on Kaun Hai, as he was my husband. We would travel together and the conversation changed. Initially, it was more as friends, and now it was more about khaane mein kya bann raha hai, ghar par kaun aa raha hai and shoot par kaise jaana hai.”

She adds, “It was my first experience with the supernatural genre and it was great fun. I would definitely be interested in taking up a show in the genre. The audience is lapping up such shows.”

Interestingly, both Baazigar and Kaun Hai featured Vatsal in a negative role. Ishita says, “I would love to do a show with him, in which I get to romance him on screen. But I have always liked him in negative roles. I think he does it well.”

The actress says that life has changed post marriage. She says, “I keep telling my mother that after marriage, I appreciate her so much more. I have realised the effort that it takes to run a home. Now that I will start shooting on a daily basis, I need to plan everything in advance. I think it will be require a bit of adjustment, but I am excited about being back to a daily soap. It’s a blessing to have a partner, who understands me so well, and is supportive.”