Made in India: A Titan Story
Director: Robbie Grewal
Cast: Jim Sarbh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Kaveri Seth, Namita Dubey, Lakshvir Saran, Joy Sengupta, Viraf Patel, Ashwath Bhatt
Rating: ★★★⯪
It is crazy that in the space of a couple of years, we have seen two real-life uplifting stories based on visionaries from Bombay before it was Mumbai, both starring Jim Sarbh. In Rocket Boys, he delivered a tour de force as Homi Bhabha, and in Made in India, he physically and emotionally transforms into Titan founder Xerxes Desai. It is an origin story that is equal parts heartwarming and engaging, while avoiding becoming a shameless brand promotion.
In the late 1970s, Xerxes Desai (Jim Sarbh), a Tata employee, returns to the company after years on loan to a PSU. A meeting his mentor, the great JRD Tata (Naseeruddin Shah), has with a foreign watchmaker, compels him to work on Tata’s Watch Project, which eventually turns into Titan, the iconic watch brand. Made in India chronicles the birth of the company and how ordinary people birthed a behemoth, an Indian firm that dared to compete with the best from the world.
Not a Titan ad, this
What impresses you immediately about Made in India is that, despite being the story of a brand, it does not promote the brand or become a hagiography of its founder, or even JRD Tata. It is very easy to take that route, but the show chooses not to. The show focuses on the technical innovations Titan brought, the challenges they faced, and the mountains the brand climbed, all told as an engaging story. But it also talks about the loopholes they navigated, particularly presenting the founder, Xerxes Desai, as a grey, human figure – someone who makes mistakes and loses as well. That alone shows the intent is genuine storytelling, not merely using a brand’s goodwill.
The show does falter, though. It moves briskly, but that creates the problem of not lingering with the tension for too long. Everything is breezy, every obstacle is crossed easily, and the stakes are never truly there. The engagement never wavers, but it all feels too candyfloss after a while.
Jim Sarbh shoulders the show
In a conversation with me just before the show’s release, Jim Sarbh had joked that 80% of his work has been playing real people. But jokes aside, the actor has found his niche in this growing subgenre, bringing natural performance and immense likability to these characters. As Xerxes Desai, he is charming, intelligent, and industrious, but also proud to the fault of being vain and egoistic. Jim strips the character down of any aura, presenting him as a human being, and not just a great man. That invests the audience in the story, as we watch a fellow man fight for his passion and dream. It makes the story rooted and more relatable.
Naseeruddin Shah, on the other hand, takes the opposite route, but with the same effect. As JRD Tata, he is all aura and mystique. He towers over everyone as the industry titan (pun intended), blending his trademark flair with some genuine humanity. Among the support cast, notable performers are Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Lakshvir Saran, and Ashwath Bhatt. As Xerxes’ Man Friday, Akash, Vaibhav is the show’s moral compass. He is us! And he uses his relatability and everyman quality to set that role. Lakshvir Saran brings in the youthful exuberance of an IIT-ian in Tata, blending it with the tentativeness of a novice. And veteran Aswhath Bhatt, a Kashmiri, plays a Tamil bureaucrat with such elan that you never feel it’s a switch for him.
Perfect use of nostalgia
Director Robbie Grewal’s choice to use the 4:3 aspect ratio and grainy sepia tones whenever starting a new chapter takes you back to India in the 1980s. The production design is amazing, almost invisibly recreating that era, one Ambassador car and one Lambretta scooter at a time. The use of real pictures and footage from the Titan’s early days adds to authenticity. But the real clincher is the music. The makers use iconic Hindi and Tamil songs as background; everything from Mausam Beeta Jaaye to Haath Badhana Saathi fits perfectly wherever they are used. That elevates the show from being just good to something memorable.
Made in India: A Titan Story is streaming on Amazon MXPlayer.