After the success of Toilet ek Prem Katha and Padman, it was indeed expected that Akshay Kumar’s Gold is going to be yet another patriotic movie or at least will spread the message for better society. Gold is based on the true story of India’s first Gold medal win post-independence in 1948 England Olympics. The fact that India won several Gold medals in past Olympics under the British-India name was making players and joint manager of the team Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) sad from inside. The dream of winning the Gold Medal after Independence of India was seen by Akshay Kumar and then Hockey team captain Samrat (Kunal Kapoor). Though the story is revealing around the team creation and India-Pakistan partition, strong management lessons Gold is giving to us. The message is important to learn by the youth not just to understand the patriotism but for also to learn how management can turn impossible into possible!
1. Passion and Patience: It took 12 years for Tapan Das to fulfill the dream of winning the first Gold medal in free India. In between, two time the Olympics games were canceled due to the second world war. He did not lose the hope and was very optimistic about freedom of India and playing hockey games under the Indian flag. When there was no Indian team available after the gap of 12 years (1936 Berlin Olympics to 1948 England Olympics), he scouted for the players all across united India just to make a team that can participate in the Olympics. The patience paid off really well for him and his passion for Hockey team to play in Olympics as an Indian team won India the first Gold medal in Olympics after freedom.
2. Team Building: It was almost impossible to build a new hockey team with no support from the Hockey Federation of India’s top officials. Tapan Das convinced the chairman of the HFI and only his commitment made it possible. It requires hard work and a positive attitude to build a great team. A leader can get tired but a commitment to winning at any cost can lead to building a great team.
3. Team Rebuilding: The unseen truth of partition of India and Pakistan came as an earthquake for Tapan Das and the rest of the hockey team members. When almost 9 players left the country to settle in Pakistan and Australia post partition, Tapan Das only had 2-3 players with him. He was devastated and lost all over. Even a leader needs some motivation and support and then came the hero of previous Olympics, Samrat – the captain who won India Gold medal last time in 1936 Berlin games. They together started the scouting and created a pool of good players. With no money and ground to practice, Tapan Das could still rebuild the team. It is learned that if a leader makes all the hard work to build the team for the very first time, he can still build yet another team for the second time as well! Only Tapan’s stubbornness made it possible to rebuild the team.
4. Overcoming the bad politics: Politics is the common thing one can find in any organization for years. The secretary of HFI, Mehta, played all the games to sideline Tapan Das but only Tapan’s commitment and hunger to win took him back. He was even dropped from the team traveling to England for Olympics game but his strong will power brought him with the team. One can easily accept defeat from politics but if you really want to achieve your goal, you should never bother!
One can definitely compare the movie with 2007 released Chak De India! for the obvious reason of hockey. It would be harsh to compare the two movies as Gold is based on the true instance shadowed under partition in 1947. The movie is not only based on the game of hockey but it is about the madness to see India playing Olympics under its own flag and winning the Gold medal. The management lessons are worth learning and one can surely take positive points out of it to implement in the real life!
