[1][2] Tinu Suresh Desai was born on 28 August 1974 in Mumbai Maharashtra, India in a Gujarati-speaking family, his birth name is Dharmendra.

He is a son of production manager Suresh Desai, who is known for films like Sholay, Shaan and Seeta aur Geeta.

In 2016, Desai made his directorial debut with 1920 London starring Sharman Joshi and Meera Chopra.

[3] Tinu Desai is known for the Akshay Kumar starrer film Rustom released in 2016, was reportedly based on K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra's 1959 court case.

[10] Tinu Desai has directed Mission Raniganj,[11][12][13][14][15] a Akshay Kumar & Parineeti Chopra Starrer film based on the chief mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, who evacuated 65 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in Raniganj, West Bengal, in 1989.