Manish Dhanwani confirms aha exit, eyes next leadership challenge

MUMBAI: Manish Dhanwani has put the speculation to rest. The OTT growth and monetisation advisor has confirmed on LinkedIn that he has wrapped up his stint with aha, expressing gratitude for an enriching run and the chance to work with a passionate team while contributing to its growth and monetisation journey.

Dhanwani singled out one takeaway above the rest: a much deeper understanding of the South Indian content ecosystem, its audiences, consumer behaviour and the nuances that set each market apart, a perspective he says he will carry into whatever comes next. During his time at aha, Dhanwani is understood to have played a key role in strengthening the platform’s growth and monetisation roadmap.

The confirmation caps a run that included three years as head of D2C business at Shemaroo Entertainment, where Dhanwani drove 24 per cent revenue growth at flat media spend and lifted subscribers by 20 per cent year-on-year, alongside earlier P&L charge at Amazon’s MX Player and senior marketing stints at SonyLIV and BookMyShow. Across more than 17 years in the business, the throughline has stayed consistent: fix the funnel, sharpen the pricing, hold onto the subscriber.

Dhanwani is now believed to be evaluating senior leadership opportunities across the digital, media, OTT and consumer technology ecosystem, framing the aha chapter as preparation rather than a pause. South India’s content market gave him the masterclass; the industry now waits to see who gets the benefit of it.