Life lessons from Ab Tak Chhappan

Ab Tak Chhappan is one of my favourite Indian movies. I have seen it more than 3 times, and each time I find something new and interesting in it. This last time, I found some management lessons as well as a whole life philosophy in the characters of Sadhu Agashe and Imtiaz Siddiqui. Two opposites, yet there are similarities between them. Just as the opening verses of the Bhagavad Geeta draw parallels and, simultaneously, contrasts between the characters of Arjuna and Duryodhana; Sadhu and Imtiaz have been drawn in the same colour but with entirely different textures.

Sadhu’s character is a portrait of how alone each person really is, and yet his life is defined by the interdependencies with those around him – his immediate family, his colleagues, his bosses. These are external but essential influences in one’s life yet how one deals with them is determined solely by one’s individual character. Inner strength alone can help one handle life’s situations with dignity. These interdependencies in life can often offer support, just as Sadhu finds solace in his wife, support in his senior (Retd Commissioner Pradhan) and loyalty in his subordinate (Jatin Shukla). However, these are temporary in nature and at best a reminder, not a replacement, of one’s own inner strength. Life is after all a solitary journey: the landscape changes, the weather changes, the company changes, even the destination sometimes changes. All one really has is oneself.

Imtiaz is a man of talent but not of courage, and most of the flaws in his character can be boiled down to this one lack. He has initiative but his insecurity causes him to think and act erratically rather than with the calm fortitude of Sadhu. Ambition by itself is not a bad thing, but Imtiaz’s ambition is really a result of his insecurity and therefore poisonous.

The calm, wise, authoritative way Sadhu manages his subordinates is a contrast to the mean, diffident manner Imtiaz uses. Imtiaz knows he has the talent to equal Sadhu but does not realise that his lack of courage is the main differentiator causing him to lag behind. The lesson I gathered here is that a calm mind, under any and all circumstances, is really what wins the day. Calmness of mind reflects in one’s dignity, the wisdom of one’s decisions under pressure, and the decisiveness of one’s actions. Only a calm mind can distinguish right from wrong, and remain unruffled when wrong sometimes overtakes right.