Who Was Xerxes Desai? Meet The Man Who Inspired 'Made In India: A Titan Story' Starring Jim Sarbh

Made In India: The Titan Story starring Jim Sarbh and Naseeruddin Shah is now out for streaming on MX Player and Amazon Prime Video, and if the initial reviews are anything to go by, the six-part series has already won over viewers’ hearts. The series, inspired by the remarkable rise of Titan, brings to life the story of Xerxes Desai, a visionary businessman, whose determination through uncertainties forever transformed the way the world once saw India’s watch industry.

Portrayed by Jim Sarbh, the series captures a refreshing tale of a man who dared to believe. Amid rising attention on the show, take a look at the extraordinary journey of Desai and how closely the series reflected the actual story. 

Who was Xerxes Desai?

Long before Titan watches became a household name, Xerxes Desai was making his mark in the Tata Group. Born in 1937 in Bombay, Maharashtra, to a Parsi family, he was exposed to the cultural and architectural beauty of the city at an early age. He graduated from Mumbai’s Elphinstone College and then moved abroad to do his master’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University. On his return to India, he joined Tata Administrative Services in 1961.

Desai worked with several Tata companies over the years, including Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, Tata Industries, and Tata Press. In his early years with the company, he carved a niche for himself as a master builder and trouble-shooter. He worked with renowned hotelier Ajit Kerkar and headed the mega project to rebuild and construct the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Intercontinental tower in Mumbai. His profile on the Tata Group website mentions that he personally laid the groundwork for luxury properties such as the Lake Palace in Udaipur and Goa’s popular Fort Aguada.

However, his biggest breakthrough came in the late 1970s, when he noticed a gap in the Indian watch market. We are talking about a time when the industry was dominated by government-run brands and smugglers selling imported watches. Desai noticed the missing piece and believed that India, too, could build a premium homegrown watch company that could make global brands run for their money.

The birth of Titan

It was a warm night in March 1977 when the journey of Titan officially began, with Xerxes Desai receiving a phone call from Anil Manchanda with five shortlisted projects. As described by Tata Group itself, Manchanda had said in the call:

“There are five projects that I’ve shortlisted. The best among them is watches.”

Desai convinced J.R.D. Tata to back his ambitious idea despite massive skepticism from the industry. But the road was far from easy. It took him nearly a decade to work his way through the red tape, funding issues, licensing problems, and doubts within, before Titan could be launched in 1986. It started out as a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. With Titan, Desai was not just making watches but building an entire ecosystem for the workers and their families.

Xerxes Desai's leadership style became legendary inside Titan. Rather than hiring only experienced specialists, he focused on training young local workers from rural Tamil Nadu and transformed them into world-class craftsmen. The philosophy later became central to Titan’s success story. 

Xerxes Desai was the creative genius behind Titan's whole identity

Desai wasn’t just a businessman. He was also deeply involved in branding, design, architecture, and storytelling. One of his most famous decisions was approving Titan’s now-iconic theme music inspired by Mozart’s 25th Symphony. More than three decades later, the tune remains instantly recognizable across India. He also helped create Tanishq, Titan’s jewellery division, in the 1990s. In fact, Desai himself reportedly tweaked the original proposed name 'Nishka' into “Tanishq,” a name that eventually became synonymous with Indian jewellery retail.

The Amazon MX Player series will also reportedly explore one of Titan’s most dangerous phases during the early 1990s. After expanding aggressively into Europe, Titan faced severe financial trouble that nearly pushed the company to collapse. However, Desai and his team regrouped and eventually reinvented the brand through innovation. That reinvention later gave birth to the Titan Edge, introduced in 2002 as the world’s slimmest quartz watch.

Jim Sarbh on why he was drawn to the role of Xerxes Desai 

Credit: The Hollywood Reporter India

Playing Xerxes Desai was a dream moment for Jim Sarbh. The actor was so dedicated to the part that he reportedly shaved his head daily to be as realistic as possible to the character. Speaking about portraying Desai, Jim Sarbh described him as someone who constantly challenged convention. The actor said:

"Xerxes Desai struck me as someone who was quietly rebellious, unafraid to challenge convention and imagine what didn’t yet exist."

That rebellious streak notably defined much of Desai’s life. Before Titan, he even worked on the ambitious Navi Mumbai urban planning project alongside renowned architect Charles Correa. He later remained actively involved in urban development discussions and education initiatives across India. His leadership philosophy centered on giving people the freedom to learn, experiment, and even fail, a theme that forms a major part of Made in India: A Titan Story.

Xeres Desai's legacy beyond watches

Desai retired from Titan in 2002, but remained a respected name in business and design circles. He received several honours over the years, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Institute of Design. Desai passed away in 2016 at the age of 79, but his influence continues to shape Indian retail, branding, and manufacturing.

Now, nearly a decade later, his extraordinary journey is reaching a new generation through Made in India: A Titan Story, which revisits how one man’s persistence helped place an Indian brand on the global map.

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Photos courtesy Tata Central Archives

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