Story TV hires Yash Raj Films veteran Manan Mehta to lead content and strategy

Mumbai/Bengaluru, 8th July 2026: Story TV has decided the vertical screen deserves better than quick, disposable drama, and it has hired accordingly. The microdrama platform has appointed Yash Raj Films stalwart Manan Mehta as senior vice president, content and strategy, tasked with leading a new push into what the company is calling premium vertical storytelling, an ambitious rebrand of a format that, until now, has mostly been synonymous with fast plots and faster scrolling.

Mehta arrives with more than 20 years of experience across business strategy, marketing and brand building, having cut his teeth at agencies including Leo Burnett, Taproot and Razorfish before spending a significant eleven-plus years at Yash Raj Films, one of India’s most premium film studios. There, he worked closely with Aditya Chopra and played a key role in strengthening YRF’s brand and marketing engine, leading marketing and content strategy for more than 26 films that collectively grossed approximately Rs 5,200 crore at the global box office, a résumé that gives Story TV’s premium ambitions rather more backing than a typical vertical-video hire.

Saurabh Pandey, founder and chief executive of Story TV, framed the move as a deliberate bet that vertical storytelling deserves the same creative rigour as any other medium. “Good storytellers always find a canvas to tell their stories,” he said. “We believe the vertical screen is that canvas. Every medium has developed its own creative language over time. We believe premium vertical storytelling will follow the same creative ambition and craft.” He added that building a new entertainment category takes more than technology or distribution, it takes people who understand storytelling and creative empathy, and that Mehta’s appointment reflects the company’s ambition to work closely with the country’s finest creative talent.

Mehta, for his part, seems to relish the absence of a rulebook. “Micro drama has already arrived but for premium vertical storytelling, there is no playbook that exists anywhere,” he said. “And that’s exactly what excites me about this opportunity.” He added that premium vertical storytelling is the next big shift in entertainment, and that he’s thrilled to be building it alongside Pandey and the wider Story TV team. In his new role, he will work closely with studios, filmmakers, creative talent and strategic partners to accelerate that vision.

Story TV, launched in 2025 by the Eloelo group, was built for mobile-first, vertical consumption, producing microdramas that blend fast-paced plots and gripping twists with an eye on high production quality. In just ten months, the platform has racked up an audience base of over 100 million and built a library running past 1,500 shows featuring recognisable names from the entertainment industry, and now sits among the most downloaded entertainment apps globally, according to Sensor Tower.

With Mehta’s arrival, Story TV’s message to the industry is unambiguous: the vertical screen is no longer just a distribution format to be tolerated, it is being pitched as entertainment’s next real estate, and the company wants India’s best writers, directors, actors and studios queuing up to build on it.