'Kartavya' Movie Ending Explained & Summary: How Are Pawan’s Actions Inspired By The Mahabharat?

Kartavya is a 2026 Hindi film streaming on Netflix that plays with the idea of how one might have to make the difficult choice between comfort and duty when their lives are riddled with problems that cannot be solved through simple toil or effort. The plot is centered around a police officer named Pawan Malik, in the small fictional town of Jhamli, somewhere in North India, who has to go through the internal battle of choosing between two difficult situations, both in his personal and professional lives. Kartavya also touches upon pertinent matters like honor killing and the exploitation of innocents by godmen, making it a decent watch.

Spoiler Alert

What is the film about?

Kartavya begins with Pawan Malik, an inspector of the Jhamli Police Department, sharing a personal moment with a few of his close subordinates, who have organized a small party to celebrate Pawan turning 40. The subordinates even gift their boss a brand new pair of white sneakers, which happen to be Pawan’s favorite, and in return, he arranges for a treat for them. But Pawan and his constable, Ashok, who also happens to be very good friends, do not have time to partake in such merriment, for they have been assigned a specific duty, even at this late hour. They are supposed to go meet a woman named Reema Dutta at the Jhamli railway station and escort her to the hotel she and her team will be staying at. Reema is an investigative journalist who has been preparing a report on a religious institution named Anand Bhoomi, and it is to visit this very institution that she and two other journalists in her team have come to Jhamli.

But the fact of the matter is that Anand Bhoomi, and its leader, a godman named Anand Shri, are highly revered and loved in this small backward town, and so the commoners would definitely not take kindly to an outsider journalist stepping into their home to slander their religious and spiritual guru. It is for this very reason that the police have had to ensure extra protection for Reema, and Pawan has been assigned to lead her security detail. It initially looks like just a routine mission, as Pawan and Ashok simply drive their van behind the car that is taking Reema to her hotel, through the deserted roads late at night. However, things go wrong very quickly, as a motorcycle suddenly pulls up in front of the civilian car, blocking its path, and two shooters launch a devastating attack on the journalists. Reema Dutta and her team are killed in an instant, and although Pawan is able to shoot down one of the perpetrators, the main shooter gets away.

Pawan’s boss, Keshav, is livid at him the next day, not really for being unable to protect the journalist, but for failing at his job, which has now brought national media attention, and therefore a huge deal of scrutiny, to Jhamli. Keshav even wants to suspend Pawan and basically prove to his seniors that he has already taken action against the useless inspector, but the protagonist begs for a chance to prove his worth, claiming he will solve the case at the earliest. Amidst such serious pressure at his workplace, Pawan also has to go through a difficult time in his personal life when he returns home to learn that his younger brother, Deepak, is missing.

Who had killed Reema Dutta?

The assassination of Reema Dutta is directly linked to her latest work, which was to investigate and expose the horrific crimes Anand Shri was carrying out inside his ashram, Anand Bhoomi. Despite the ashram being labelled a spiritual abode where devotees came to practice religion and have their life’s problems solved under the guidance of their guru, Anand Shri is actually involved in a lot of criminal acts, mostly with regards to young boys. According to Reema’s initial findings, Anand Shri is known for taking young boys away from their homes to keep as servants at his ashram, where they are tortured, exploited and overworked. The godman clearly molests and assaults the boys, and then also forces them to work for him without compensation. Later on, it is revealed that Anand Shri often ‘blesses’ devotees with children, especially those couples who have been trying to become parents for long.

It is unclear whether this special blessing involves him getting intimate with the female devotees, or if he helps the couples undergo fertility treatment at his expense, but his intentions are anyway vile. This is because Anand Shri clearly states that the parents must give up their children to the ashram as soon as they turn 10. This not only ensures that he has a steady flow of workers at his cult, but also that the local population remains subservient to him forever, as he does not let the children be educated enough to question his methods. What is even more heinous is the fact that Anand Shri is willing to make the young boys at his service do just about anything, including committing murders to save his reputation. Thus, it is revealed that the gunman who shot down Reema Dutta and has been absconding ever since is just a 16-year-old boy named Harpal.

Harpal had been given away to the ashram by his parents when he was 10, following which he was radicalized by the teachings of Anand Shri. When the godman realized that the journalist was not just investigating him, but also coming to Jhamli to expose him, he made a plan to have her assassinated by his minions. Unable to tolerate the exploitation and torture he was being subjected to at the ashram, Harpal had been begging Anand Shri to let him return home. Anand Shri realized that the boy was desperate to do anything for his freedom, and so he took advantage of the situation and assigned him to commit the murder. It is unclear whether the other gunman, who is killed by Pawan in the gunfight, was also a teenager, although the fact that this detail never gets mentioned makes me believe he was an adult. Despite having been brainwashed into committing a murder for Anand Shri, Harpal remains intelligent enough to know that he too will soon be killed by the godman’s men, since they would obviously want to wipe out all connection between themselves and the crime. Therefore, Harpal manages to flee the gunmen who are sent by Anand Shri, and is almost able to flee the state, but he gets caught by the police.

Where is Deepak?

The subplot around Pawan’s personal life is entirely based around caste discrimination and honor killing, the latter being a shameful criminal practice that still exists in India in which a family has their own children or relatives killed in order to protect their caste/class-related ‘honor.’ In the village of Jhamli, where Pawan lives with his father, brother, wife and son, honor killing is a very common matter, where the village elders have often called for the murder of young couples who get involved in inter-caste love affairs. Even if two consenting adults genuinely love each other despite their caste differences, and want to get married and spend the rest of their lives together, such relationships are not approved by the village elders, and are instead punished with severe torture or murder. Turns out, Pawan’s younger brother, Deepak, is now involved in an inter-caste relationship, for which the villagers now want to kill him and his lover, Preeti. 

After realizing that neither of their families would approve of their relationship, Deepak and Preeti had fled the village and holed up at some shady motel. Since Pawan’s wife, Varsha, never believed in the conservative ideas of the villagers, even though she did have to abide by them, Deepak had sought help from her and she had helped him escape. Once Pawan learns about the situation, he is angered and scared thinking of the repercussions of his brother’s actions, but soon decides to help him out. Since Deepak and Preeti have also gotten legally married, to start a new life together, Pawan considers it best for the couple to flee the village forever and remain underground for at least the next 10 to 15 years. 

Back at the village, Preeti’s brother has already filed a complaint with the village elders, blaming Deepak for having forcefully abducted his sister from their house. After figuring out what has happened, the elders decide to get hold of the couple and kill them, with Deepak’s father agreeing to this horrid plan as well, since he feels that the kangaroo-court justice system in place at the village is very appropriate and effective. Because of these extremely dangerous and difficult circumstances, Pawan finally agrees to take the help of his constable, Ashok, who offers to let Deepak and Preeti move into his aunt’s old house in the town, which has been abandoned for the past few years. Thus, the couple move into the house, with the blessings of Pawan and Varsha, in the hopes of starting a new life together, but are totally unaware of the brutal fate awaiting them.

How does Ashok turn out to be an absolute traitor?

After young Harpal is caught by the state police and handed over to Pawan for interrogation, the protagonist’s strong morals and clear conscience make him treat the boy with utmost care and protection. Pawan knows that Harpal cannot be entirely blamed for the murder of Reema Dutta, since he had been forced to carry out the act for Anand Shri, but is also aware that this is exactly what the godman and the corrupt police department working for him will try to do, by claiming Harpal to be the sole perpetrator who had acted of his own will. Despite Harpal officially confessing everything to Pawan, the latter is unable to file a report based on this confession, as he is stopped by his boss. Keshav, who is just a stooge for the higher-ups and politicians he serves, does not want to stir up any trouble with Anand Shri and his Anand Bhoomi, and so he is desperate to ensure that no link can be found between the murder of Reema Dutta and the religious cult.

Because of the circumstances, it is clear to Pawan that if Harpal is not protected, then the boy will be handed back to Anand Shri, who will end up killing him. Thus, Pawan refuses to let the boy leave his sight, even standing up to the orders of Keshav and risking his job as a police inspector in the process. Perhaps the fact that Harpal is just a few years older than his own son, Honey, also plays a role in his decision to protect him. Ultimately, Keshav seems to suddenly have a change of heart, and he allows Pawan to slip Harpal out of the state and help him start a new life in Delhi. At this point, Ashok offers to drive the boy out of the state so that Pawan can concentrate on saving his brother and helping them move into his aunt’s house. Despite having been so determined to ensure that the boy was safely smuggled out of the state, Pawan does not ultimately partake in the process directly, as he trusts Ashok blindly.

Turns out, Ashok betrays Pawan’s trust on multiple levels, beginning with the disgraceful act that he carries out with Harpal. Despite pretending to abide by Pawan’s order of driving Harpal out of the state and leave him somewhere in Delhi, Ashok had already made his own plan, most likely with Keshav. After leaving Jhamli, Ashok had gotten in touch with Anand Shri’s goons, essentially agreeing to hand the boy over to them before crossing the state border. Once the handover took place, and the goons failed to kill Harpal, as the boy had made a run to save himself, Ashok himself shot and killed him, using the gun assigned to him by the police force to help protect citizens. He then outright lied to Pawan, and could also be seen quickly moving away when Pawan tried calling Harpal on the phone he had given the boy, possibly because Ashok had stolen the phone, along with the money that Keshav had given Harpal. After Pawan figures out what had happened and confronts Ashok, he realizes that his close friend and favorite constable had betrayed him in more ways than one.

Turns out, Ashok had been a victim to the orthodox and cruel customs of the village, being a part of the same toxic society. He also belonged to the same caste as Preeti and her brother, and so was not at all happy at her elopement with Deepak. But he also had to play out the role of the police constable, hiding his real thoughts and motives from Pawan, who he did look up to, but eventually considered a foolish man stuck on fighting lost battles. Thus, when Ashok helped Deepak and Preeti move into a house in the town, his intention was to get hold of the couple’s location and inform the village elders about it. When he considered it to be the right time, Ashok had told the villagers about Deepak and Preeti and had taken them to their house, before partaking in the lynching of the couple, all because they wanted to be with each other. 

Is Anand Shri finally exposed?

Having figured out what had actually happened, Pawan had decided to take matters into his own hands instead of relying on the law, and so he made a perfect plan. The confession of Harpal, which he had documented but could not file because of Keshav’s pressure, became crucial to him, and also to Anand Shri, since the document could still expose his secrets, even though he had had Harpal killed. Therefore, Anand Shri had sent his goons to Pawan’s house to get hold of the document, and they had given the police inspector some more time to hand it over, threatening to kill him and his family otherwise. Now, Pawan pretends to have finally changed his mind, calls Anand Shri’s henchman to meet him so that he can hand over the confession document, and then kills them. He also confronts and kills Ashok soon after, making it look like the two sides had killed each other in a police encounter. 

As the police arrive at the scene, Pawan tells the officers everything, about how he had Harpal’s confession and Anand Shri’s men had attacked him for the document, ensuring that the document actually gets filed as evidence before Keshav can come and intervene. Although the police force now gets an official report of Anand Shri’s criminal acts, it is unclear by the end whether the godman actually faces any trouble, for it seems like his crimes have not been made public. The makers have focused heavily on the gritty and dark side of India’s criminal underbelly, especially in rural regions, and so it is more believable that the godman does not actually face any consequences for his actions, despite the best efforts of Pawan to expose him. Anand Shri does possibly face pressure from the politicians who had been aiding him, but there is no sense of justice in this regard, at least for now.

How are Pawan’s actions inspired by the Mahabharat?

Pawan’s actions in the end, and the very title of the film, are actually inspired by a section of the Mahabharat, the sacred Hindu mythological text about the devastating war at Kurukshetra. During this battle, Arjun, one of the warriors of the Pandavs, learnt that his son, Abhimanyu, had been killed by the strategy drawn up by Dronacharya, the legendary guru who had taught warfare to Arjun. Thus, in order to avenge his son’s death, Arjun had to fight and kill Dronacharya, the teacher he revered and looked up to throughout his life. In a state of extreme dilemma and internal conflict, Arjun had to be guided by Krishna, who advised him to forget about all prior relationships and circumstances and only to focus on his dharma, or his kartavya, meaning his moral and spiritual duty, which was to avenge his son’s death and achieve victory for his siblings. 

In Kartavya, Pawan has to go through a similarly difficult task of choosing between two sides that are equally close and important to him. In his professional role, Pawan has to follow the orders of his supervisors and fulfil the responsibilities given to him by them, and yet know very well that he cannot stand up for what is morally and legally right. Similarly, in his personal life, he has to choose between respecting his father, who is the very reason behind his existence, and punishing the man for having betrayed his younger son, Deepak, and being a part of his lynching. Ultimately, Pawan chooses to take the difficult step of following what he feels to be his ‘kartavya,’ or duty, and so he lands Keshav in trouble by making him face the questions of the media, and also of his superiors. In an even more difficult ordeal, Pawan kills his own father and sets fire to his corpse to punish him for murdering Deepak for the sake of honor. These decisions might not have been the best or most correct ones, but they were necessary to deal with the institutional and social evils that he had been trying to fight against all along.

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