Ashvini Yardi calls it a day at Colors

Yardi has been associated with Colors much before its launch and lead the programming division of the channel, which helped it to grab the No. 1 position within nine months of its launch.

Ashvini Yardi, head, programming, Colors has put in her papers at the organisation. She plans to explore entrepreneurial opportunities in film production.

In the next two-three months, she will come out of her current role in the channel and work on film projects, the first of which will be done in association with Viacom18's Motion Picture division.

It is to be noted that Yardi has been associated with Colors since 2007, much before its launch, and lead the programming division that helped Colors to grab the No. 1 position within nine months of its launch.

Commenting on the development, Haresh Chawla, group chief executive officer, Viacom18, says, "Yardi's contribution to Colors' success has been significant. With her experience and knack for content that connects with the masses, she not only brought 'differentiated' concepts to the channel but also gave the format shows her distinct touch. We now look forward to working with her on her maiden venture in the film business."

Yardi joined Colors from Zee Network, where she spent close to 14 years in varied roles. Her last three years at Zee was as vice-president, programming for its flagship channel, Zee TV.

Yardi was also the business head of Zee English and Zee MGM, and was responsible for driving substantial revenue leaps for these two channels.

She has also worked as an assistant director with Kunal Kohli in producing shows such as Philips Top 10 and Lux Kya Scene Hai in the early 90s, and independently directed Daak Ghar as well as the prime-time Rasna Song Tere Naam Se early in her career.

Yardi is the recipient of Media Personality of the Year at India Today Woman's Summit and Gr8 Woman Achievers Award. She was also hailed as one of the Top 50 powerful people of 2009 by Business Week.