In a space where most brands are carefully constructed, TIGERFIRE Vodka feels different; it comes from something lived. Not a boardroom idea, but a shared journey shaped by resilience, friendship, and an unshaken mindset of pushing forward.
The story moves beyond the bottle into something far more personal. It’s about building a brand that stands on character, conviction, and the refusal to give in.
For Paresh Ghelani, a seasoned entrepreneur with multiple successful exits in the tech world, this marks a shift from solving problems to creating connections. For Sanjay Dutt, whose life has been anything but linear, TIGERFIRE is not just another venture; it’s a reflection of everything he has lived through.
In this candid conversation, both founders open up about crafting a spirit with personality, earning trust over time, and building something that people don’t just consume but truly connect with.
Sanjay Dutt, you have been the face of many brands. What made you want to build one yourself this time?
Because putting your face on something and building something are two completely different things. I’ve endorsed brands, sure. But I never lost sleep over whether the product was right. With TIGERFIRE, I’ve lost a lot of sleep. Some thinking about it, some tasting it.
This came from a very personal place. Parya (Paresh) and I have known each other for over 35 years. He’s seen my worst days and my best days, and he’s never walked away. When we started talking about building something together, it had to mean something. Not just a business. Something that carried me through everything; the quiet refusal to give up, no matter what.
I’m a vodka drinker. I know what I like. And I’m stubborn about it. I told Parya, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to make the best vodka in the world, or we’re not going to do it at all. That’s not marketing talk. That’s just how I am.
Paresh, you’ve built and exited several companies already. What made you want to enter a consumer brand now, and why alcohol?
I’ve spent my entire career building technology companies. Multiple ventures, multiple exits, all created from the ground up. But every one of those businesses was about solving functional problems: improving efficiency, enabling scale, expanding capability. TIGERFIRE is different.
It didn’t begin as a business idea. It began as a personal truth shared between two friends, and a simple question: could we build something around that truth that people genuinely connect with? In many ways, that’s a far harder challenge than any technology problem I’ve ever tackled.
Everyone knows the public story of Sanjay Dutt, the trials, the triumphs, the struggles that unfolded in the spotlight. But Sanju and I have been close for more than three decades, and knowing him personally has been profoundly inspiring. I’ve watched him endure things that would break most people, yet every single time, he rebuilt himself and kept moving forward.
His last battle in life was different. What struck me most was how quietly he fought through it. Not with drama, not with spectacle, but with a calm, unwavering determination. That’s the man I know.
At one point, we made a promise to each other, like brothers: that he would keep fighting until the very end, and that together we would build something meaningful, something that would outlast both of us.
At the same time, India’s consumer culture is evolving. People today care deeply about the story behind what they consume, who created it, what it stands for, and why it exists. That shift is one of the reasons the premium spirits category is growing so rapidly. But the truth is, we didn’t start TIGERFIRE because we identified a market opportunity. We started it because we had something real to say.
Sanjay, you spent three years refining the liquid. What kept falling short of your standards until it finally felt right?
Everything tasted like it was trying to be invisible. That was the problem. Every vodka out there wants to be smooth, clean, and disappear on your tongue. I didn’t want that. I wanted fire. I wanted you to take a sip and know you’re drinking something with a spine.
But fire without control is just chaos. I know a thing or two about that from my own life. So the real challenge was getting that balance, the boldness and the discipline in the same glass. I’d taste a batch and say, close, but not there yet. Again. The distillers probably thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. But I wasn’t going to compromise on something that meant so much to me.
Twenty-two distillery samples later, the moment I knew was simple. I poured a glass. Neat, no mixer, nothing. And I didn’t want to put it down. That warmth, that smoky finish, the way it sits with you after. It wasn’t just vodka anymore. It had character. It had earned its name. I remember, because I called Parya immediately. It was late in Mumbai for me and early in LA for him. I just said, ‘Brother, this is the one’.
Paresh, in practical terms, what does success look like for you here: scale, valuation, or staying power?
Staying power. Without question. The spirits industry doesn’t reward speed; it rewards patience and consistency. The brands that last, the ones people actually respect 20 or 30 years from now, were built deliberately.
In tech, you can scale a product to millions of users in months. Here, success looks like a bartender in Mumbai recommending TIGERFIRE because he believes in the liquid, not because we bought a placement. It looks like someone in Goa ordered it a second time because the first experience stayed with them. That kind of trust is built bottle by bottle.
The early signals are encouraging. We received a 95 out of 100 from the Beverage Testing Institute, which tells us the liquid stands on its own against the best in the world. But a score is just the entry ticket. The real measure will be whether people keep coming back. If 10 years from now, TIGERFIRE is a name people trust and reach for with confidence, that’s the outcome we’re building toward.
Sanjay, after the curiosity phase passes, what will make someone choose TIGERFIRE again?
The liquid. Full stop. My name might get someone to pick up the bottle for the first time. I’m not naive about that. But nobody orders a second drink because of who’s on the label. They ordered it because the first one was worth coming back to.
That’s why I was obsessed with the product. I didn’t care about timelines, I didn’t care about costs, I cared about what was in the glass. If the liquid doesn’t deliver, nothing else matters. No amount of branding, no number of events, none of it saves a spirit that doesn’t earn the second pour.
What gives me real confidence is watching people taste it for the first time. Not press, not influencers. Regular people. Bartenders. When a bartender takes a sip and his eyes change, when he starts thinking about what he wants to create with it, you can’t fake that reaction. That’s not politeness. That’s respect for the liquid. And that’s what builds a brand that lasts.
Paresh, where do you see TIGERFIRE fitting: a luxury label, a bar regular, or a sipping spirit people keep at home?
I’d push back on putting it in one box. We wanted TIGERFIRE to have character. It has a warmth and a subtle smoky finish that gives it real personality. Most premium vodkas are engineered for neutrality. We went the other direction. We wanted something you could actually taste and remember.
That personality is what makes it versatile. A mixologist can work with it because the flavour profile adds dimension to cocktails. But it’s also refined enough that you can pour it neat and enjoy it slowly. That flexibility is deliberate, not accidental.
The hospitality space in India is evolving fast. Bars all around the country are doing genuinely creative work now, whether in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Delhi, or Hyderabad. A vodka with actual character gives them more to work with. And for the person keeping a bottle at home, it becomes something they’re proud to pour for a guest. That’s where we want to be. We want to make vodka sexy again. Shall I say, the TIGERFIRE Roaring Martini.
Sanjay, years from now, what would make you feel this venture truly meant something beyond business?
My life has not been a straight line. Everyone knows that. I’ve been down in ways I don’t wish on anyone, and I’ve come back in ways that even I didn’t think were possible. Every scar, every fall, every time I got up again, it’s all in this bottle. TIGERFIRE is not separate from my life. It is my life.
If someone picks up this bottle years from now and feels something, not just the taste, but the idea behind it, the refusal to quit, the belief that your darkest chapter doesn’t have to be your last chapter, then we built something that mattered. That’s bigger than any sales number or award.
And I’ll say this. TIGERFIRE was built on brotherhood. Parya and I didn’t come together for a business deal. We came together because we’ve walked through fire together, literally and figuratively. That bond is in the DNA of this brand. If it carries that spirit forward, long after both of us, then I’ll know it was real. That’s all I want. Something real.
Paresh, what has been tougher: building technology companies or building trust in a taste-driven category?
They’re different kinds of hard. In technology, if the product works, adoption follows. People switch to better software because it saves time or money or solves a problem they have. The logic is clear. With spirits, you’re asking someone to trust you with their palate, their evening, their moment. That’s a much more personal relationship.
We spent nearly three years finding the right liquid for TIGERFIRE. In tech, three years is an eternity. In spirit, it’s just the beginning. You can’t shortcut that process. People can taste the difference between something that was rushed and something that was earned.
What’s harder here is that the feedback loop is slower. You don’t get analytics dashboards telling you someone loved their second pour. You build conviction over time, through consistency. I actually find that deeply satisfying. My motto has always been work hard in silence and let your success be the noise. That’s exactly how great spirits brands are built.
