Ashish Vidyarthi began acting in minor roles and got his break in an S.V Paranjpe serial. Since then he kept on acting in a number of minor serials in regional languages and in appeared in Ghutan, a major Hindi serial in the 1990s.
Ashish's break in Hindi cinema came with Naajayaaz and Baazi. The actor soon began appearing as a typical villain. As a result most of his films were not top of the line and were more of standard commercial masala fare. He did have some hits like Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.
He also acted in supporting roles in some films such as Ek Rishta or a comic villain in Jodi No.1 and Haseena Maan Jayegi, Koi Kisi Se Kum Nahin, Ziddi, 1942: A Love Story. His 2009 releases are Lahore, Red Alert: The War Within, Kisse Pyaar Karoon.