Where Made in India‘s docudrama scores is its feel-good sincerity, observes Sukanya Verma.
Key Points
- Made in India: A Titan Story chronicles the journey of the homegrown watch brand Titan, from its inception to becoming a market leader.
- Jim Sarbh portrays Titan founder Xerxes Desai, showcasing his leadership and zeal, while Naseeruddin Shah plays J R D Tata, Desai’s mentor.
- The series highlights Titan’s innovative strategies, including its focus on accessibility, appealing design, after-sales service, and the creation of the world’s slimmest watch at the time.
- Despite some hagiographical elements and predictable narrative rhythms, the show has feel-good sincerity and emphasis on employee safety, women empowerment and ethical business practices.
- The series streams on Amazon MX Player.
A brand’s biopic by virtue is hagiographical. Conventional wisdom says telling the story of what made a product so great without becoming its mouthpiece kind of defeats the purpose. Even the likes of Barbie or Air, showing a shrewd acumen for perception versus pop culture, cannot shrug off the weight of the legacy they’re inherently protecting.
Made in India: A Titan Story chronicles the history of a homegrown brand at a time when the market was too conservative to dream big.
It may not carry the nostalgia of HMT, its more iconic predecessor whose monopoly Titan founder Xerxes Desai ended with a mid-1980s collaboration between the Tata group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation that gave birth to the quartz timepiece in the era of mechanical.
But there’s enough of the likeability synonymous with the brand. Titan’s accessibility, appealing appearance and after sales service, boosted by a catchy advertising campaign riding high on Mozart’s Fifth Symphony, proved to be another feather in Tata’s cap.
But it truly got its ‘Edge’ in the early 1990s by giving the world its slimmest watch back then. Catering to man, woman and children across all income brackets, Titan continues to capture the imagination of an ever growing market.
The Visionaries Behind Titan
The Robbie Grewal directed six-part series, based on Vinay Kamath’s Titan: Inside India’s Most Successful Consumer Brand, is a dramatised account of their best and worst times.
Encouraged by his boss Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (Naseeruddin Shah) at Bombay House, Xerxes Desai (Jim Sarbh sporting a bald pate) uses his wits and sharps to set up a watch plant in Hosur. Jeh is something of a friend, philosopher and guide to Xerxes, someone he can nudge just about enough to get out of a tight spot while always being accountable.
One sees frequent glimpses of their camaraderie after he’s joined by his colleague from their New Bombay project days (Vaibhav Tatwawadi) to build a team of idealists sharing their collective vision.
Navigating Challenges and Ethical Choices
Like most subjects of the ilk, Made in India’s smug surface is painfully aware of the greatness on the cards.
From justifying the need for a new watch by identifying a demand for smuggled ones to conquering a market through self-made means across fields of design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing and advertising, Made in India plays out a series of familiar challenges.
There’s a monotony to the imagery as well. Every character circles around a singular track. One’s akuri cooking is directly proportional to his Parsi temper, another is stressed out by his Alzheimer’s-ridden dad, still other must resist her nagging mom’s lineup of suitors, not to mention JRD’s repetitive face-off with a snobbish Swiss rival.
It’s only when the show breaks out of these predictable rhythms, something endearing happens. Like the lookalike brothers proving to be a blessing in disguise, quite like the fairy tale where an act of kindness towards a beggarly woman transforms her into a wish-granting godmother.
Going back in time to document a trend (Matka King) or fraud (Scam 1992) is a longform favourite. Made in India, juxtaposing footage of facts with fiction, follows a similar pattern only swapping darkness with hope. It’s not a Manthan like cooperative but employee safety, women empowerment, and people over profit ethics are repeatedly prioritised over the course of Titan’s inspiring journey as a corporate with a heart.
Performance and Storytelling Nuances
But there are instances of highhandedness where Xerxes shuns his core team to make key decisions and create an air of friction. It’s a grey area treated like drawbacks of genius as is his constant neglect of his own family for Titan’s.
A never-ending playlist of Bollywood songs highlights its passion over paisa motto on the nose, all the time.
Another peeve is the onslaught of time metaphors — ‘Waqt ki saudebaazi mehengi padti hai, Hum dono dial aur strap ki tarah kitne ache lag rahe hain.’ Xerxes doesn’t speak. He delivers mini speeches backed by a swelling background score while everyone responds to him like an awestruck audience.
The actor playing him is a study in steady leadership and unflinching zeal. Slipping into another passionate Parsi persona after Rocket Boys, Jim Sarbh’s aplomb and intelligence imbue the six episodes with an irresistible ‘can do’ energy.
Naseeruddin Shah’s years of experience colour JRD’s intuition and wisdom.
Together, their scenes are some of the most special moments in Made in India.
How much you enjoy its horological details depends on how curious you are about a quartz crystal vibrating 32,000 times per second.
Where Made in India’s docudrama scores is its feel-good sincerity that harks back to a time where a bite of a ladoo is all it would take for a change of heart and businessmen dreamed of making India something more than an economic superpower — a happy country.
Made in India: A Titan Story streams on Amazon MX Player.
