Ashish Johri feels lucky that his life took a turn and pushed him towards creating content!

Johri shares the Covid-19 crisis and the OTT boom has changed a lot in the industry. He adds, “The major change in the entertainment industry would be the way the audience has evolved to an extent. Their way of consuming content, acceptance, being open to experiments and liking for real and relatable stories, are the factors that have brought about the much required positive evolution in the industry. All these have actually opened doors for talent, who were earlier not getting opportunities they deserve.”  Given the kind of “freedom of choice, expression, and the scope ”one enjoys on OTT, Johri feels are the reasons why the medium is flourishing. And he is happy to be a part of this change. Though his background was different earlier, Johri feels lucky that his life took a turn and pushed him towards creating content.

Not many know he was a corporate guy. “I was earlier associated with just the business part of things. I was involved in the launch of Sahara News Channel. I later moved to the entertainment industry with a regional film Manoj Bhaiya as a producer & writer. Then I joined IOL Network Ltd and was looking after content acquisition. Later I became the head of programming there. I joined Sahara One Media & Entertainment Ltd in the business development section and we released Gulab Gang and Bhopal A Prayer For Rain in films & launched many television series,” he says.

Johri later joined Panorama studios when films like Section 375, Pagalpanti, Ujda Chaman, Singham ( Punjabi ) and the web series Bar Code took a shape. He then joined Bag Digital, an unit of BAG Films & Media Ltd as consultant content head and now working with Tigmanshu Dhuliya, Ashu Trikha, Neeraj Pathak and Madhur Bhandarkar on different projects. He cracked some joint ventures with Endemol India shine & Reliance Animation.

Presently, he is in talks with different groups / OTT for giving them content and business services. And inviting fresh contents & talents for the same. “I’m completely enjoying this phase of being involved in both content creation and the business side of it. It gives me a lot of freedom to create content that we all believe in and then taking it to the audience, presenting the content to them in the best possible way. Here on I am looking forward to do more,” he ends.