Title: Made in India: A Titan Story
Director: Robbie Grewal
Cast: Jim Sarbh, Naseeruddin Shah
Where: Amazon MX Player
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Made in India: A Titan Story, set in 1970s Bombay, is about the visionary Xerxes Desai, who along with his team at Tata created India's first world-class watch brand, Titan. It takes us through the humiliation JRD Tata faced at the hands of a Swiss watchmaker, detailing the bureaucratic shutdowns, financial dead ends, failed prototypes, and obstacles of all kinds that came in its path.
Along with the story of how through various different kind of hurdles the Titan story came to light, we also manoeuver through the challenges faced by the employees in their personal lives, whether it is a single young woman averse to the idea of marriage or a man with a father who has dementia.
The series manages to hold your attention throughout because of the unique challenges which Titan faced, presented in each episode. I also liked the fact that we get to see an interplay of the actual photographs from the Titan journey from the second episode onwards, rather than right at the end of the series, which is what most web series/movies do.
Actors Performances
Jim Sarbh is the anchor who holds this entire series together. Playing the bald headed Xerxes Desai, what he successfully manages to portray is not only the passion which Xerxes had for his job, but also how a lot of being successful at one's job has to do with the art of managing people.
The first thing that you notice about Naseeruddin Shah as JRD Tata is that unique hairdo which JRD had, and then well, Naseer the thespian takes over as he always does and gives us what a living breathing JRD was like. We get to know the astute businessman he was and why Tata became a company where everyone felt like family.
Kaveri Seth successfully shows how it felt to be an independent working woman in the 70s who wasn't interested in the idea of marriage. Rahul Dev in his fleeting role as Haji Mastan is fearful enough, while Paresh Ganatra shows his prowess of when to weigh in and when to lean back. Vaibhav Tatwawadi I liked in limited scenes, like when he has to explain the condition of his father to a surprised Xerxes. Lakshvir Singh Saran is perfect as the simple, honest and slightly shy engineer.
Music
A common theme throughout the series is using vintage Bollywood songs to express different emotions, whether it is when a close friend quits a startup venture (Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli from 1971's Anand) or when there is a tense meeting with Haji Mastan (Don theme from 1978).
FPJ Verdict
Watch it for the interesting storytelling lens which director Robbie Grewal has used to portray the genesis and journey of a great Indian milestone.
