At first glance, Robbie Grewal’s Made in India: A Titan Story, a six-part series about the birth of Titan Watches sounds like the kind of corporate case study you would have slept through in business school. A watch company? In pre-liberalisation India? Six episodes? And yet, by the end of it, you find yourself emotionally invested in quartz movements, distribution networks, manufacturing deadlines and boardroom presentations.
Adapted from journalist Vinay Kamath’s book on Titan’s rise, the series chronicles how visionary industrialist JRD Tata and the irrepressible Xerxes Desai transformed a seemingly impossible dream into one of India’s most beloved consumer brands. It is a story of ambition, innovation, setbacks and resilience, but more importantly, it is a story about people who dared to believe India could build something world-class.
AT A GLANCE
FILM: Made in India: A Titan Story (Prime video)
CAST: Jim Sarbh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vaibhav Tatwawadi
DIRECTOR: Robbie Grewal
PRODUCERS: Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar
Rating: ★★★★/5
The series shines brightest whenever it focuses on the human side of nation-building. The endless meetings, bureaucratic hurdles, failed prototypes, bruised egos and sleepless nights all become part of a larger emotional tapestry. Titan is never presented as a product. It is presented as a collective dream.
And at the centre of that dream stands Jim Sarbh.
If there is one reason to watch this show, it is his performance as Xerxes Desai.
Sarbh has long been one of India’s most intelligent actors, bringing unpredictability and nuance to every role. But here he finds something deeper. His Xerxes is flamboyant without becoming theatrical, authoritative without appearing arrogant and visionary without turning into a cliché.
He gives Desai a restless energy that drives the narrative forward. Whether he is charming investors, motivating his team or staring at yet another setback, Sarbh makes you understand why people followed this man.
For Australian audiences, there is an added layer of familiarity. Sarbh spent a significant part of his childhood in Australia and studied at an international school in Sydney before moving to the United States. There is perhaps something in that global outlook that allows him to portray Desai not merely as an Indian industrialist but as a citizen of the world who believed Indian products deserved a place on the global stage.
It is one of the finest performances of his career and arguably the emotional backbone of the series.
Shah of acting
Matching Sarbh beat for beat is the incomparable Naseeruddin Shah as JRD Tata.
Shah wisely avoids imitation. Instead, he captures the quiet confidence and moral authority that made JRD such a revered figure. His scenes with Sarbh become the show’s emotional anchor. Their mentor-protégé relationship is written with warmth and performed with remarkable restraint. Several reviews have rightly singled out their chemistry as one of the series’ strongest assets.
The supporting cast also deserves mention. Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Kaveri Seth and Lakshvir Singh Saran bring authenticity and emotional weight to Titan’s wider story. The show repeatedly reminds us that institutions are never built by heroes alone.
It’s a well directed series from Robbie Grewal who has directed films like Samay (2003), Jewel Thief (2025) in the past .Visually, the series beautifully recreates the India of the 1970s and 80s. Vintage Bombay, period details, old advertising aesthetics and a soundtrack packed with classic Hindi songs evoke nostalgia without feeling manipulative. The result is a world that feels lived in rather than manufactured.
If the show has a weakness, it occasionally veers close to corporate hagiography. Some conflicts feel tidier than they probably were, and the reverence towards the Tata legacy can occasionally soften the sharper edges of the story. Yet the sincerity is difficult to resist.
In the end, Made in India: A Titan Story is not really about watches. It is about confidence. About believing that Indian ingenuity could compete with the world’s best. About leaders who invested in people as much as products. And about the rare kind of ambition that leaves behind more than profits.
In an era where “Made in India” has become a political slogan and marketing tagline, Made in India: A Titan Story takes us back to a time when it was a radical proposition.
Like the iconic Titan tune itself, the series lingers long after it ends.
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