Aahana Swrup
Based on the true story of the founding of Titan, India’s first world-class watchmaking brand, ‘Made in India: A Titan Story’ presents a story about ambition and perseverance. Xerxes Desai, a longtime Tata Group operative and associate of J.R.D Tata, sets out to do something that has never been done before: create an Indian quartz-based watch company for a competitive industry and market. Thus, Titan, an ambitious new venture backed by the Tatas, is born.
In its early days, Xerxes finds the company’s founding executives through unorthodox interviews and other connections. This is how Ravindra Naik, an acquaintance of Megha Mhatre, Titan’s Head of Marketing, lands the position of Head Designer for the watchmaking company. His artistic abilities go on to define Titan’s visual identity. Consequently, one is bound to grow intrigued by his possible counterparts in the company’s off-screen reality.
Ravindra Naik is a Fictionalized Representation of the Artists Behind Titan’s First Few Designs
Despite being a biographical drama series, ‘Made in India: A Titan Story’ is prone to the occasional fictionalization in the service of the overarching narrative. As a result, on multiple occasions, certain characters and their influence on Titan’s history end up retaining fictionalized elements. Ravindra Naik’s depiction in the show is an instance of the same. It is entirely possible, and in fact likely, that Titan operated under the leadership of a head designer, who can be credited with the creation of the brand’s earliest designs. In 1986, CEO Xerxes Desai and his high-ranking executives, Anil Manchanda and Anil Gore, were presented with the first prototypes of Titan watches to be shortlisted for release.
Unfortunately, the names of the designers behind these prototypes remain difficult, if not impossible, to hunt down. Nevertheless, it was the handiwork of Titan’s core designer department that paved the way for the brand to create its visual identity through its products. Some of the executives in this department would have included a horologist, a technologist, and expert BG Dwarakanath, better known as BGD, and his colleague Subramanya Bhat. In fact, these two individuals introduced and spearheaded the eventual creation of the 2002 design, Titan Edge, the world’s slimmest quartz watch of its time, with only 3.35mm of slimness.
Nonetheless, the story of BGD or Bhat’s integration into Titan, and the Tata Group at large, features no fateful meetings or coincidental surprises. For the same reason, it seems Ravindra Naik’s character is a complete work of fiction, created specifically for the show. Despite retaining no direct counterparts in real life, his storyline and involvement in the foundation of the company heighten a sense of close-knit camaraderie, which represents Titan’s real family-like values under Desai’s leadership. Furthermore, the character contributes to dynamic storytelling, allowing room for fascinating interpersonal relationships and amusing plotlines. Even so, the character ultimately remains a fictitious aspect of the otherwise true-story-inspired narrative.
Read More: Is Murli Shankar Dalmia Based on Titan’s Real Head of Marketing? What Happened to Him?
You must be logged in to post a comment.