CATEGORIES

The Well Won't Run Dry

But Hollywood is making far fewer movies and shows, thanks to the coronavirus

The Great Indian Summer

Azure waters, snow-capped mountains, or electric metropolis: Visualise a holiday vibe and we’ll tell you where to find it

THE USURUPER

The new S60 is peak Volvo

MODEL SPECIMEN

Richard Mille’s latest chronograph also happens to be its best one ever. No surprises there

URBAN LEGEND

Author Amrit Raj’s tell-all account of Royal Enfield’s journey from moribund relic to international star is rich in revelations and insights

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Vivek Menezes reveals the enigma that is Indian footballing superstar Sunil Chhetri

THE BIG SWITCH

Champagne brunchery by day, vibrant niterie by night – Zorawar Kalra’s latest, Bo-Tai Switch, is exactly what the capital city’s nightlife needs in a post-pandemic world

Vijay Varma And The Perks And Perils Of The Bombay Hustle

In early 2018, when Vijay Varma walked into the Santacruz office of Excel Entertainment, he didn’t know what to expect. He had a meeting with Zoya Akhtar who’d liked his Gully Boy audition for the part of Moeen, a worn-out petty criminal from Dharavi, and protagonist Murad’s close friend. A few minutes after he walked in, Akhtar pulled out a camera and asked him to perform the same scene he’d enacted during the audition – the one in which Moeen is behind bars and Murad comes to visit him. While holding back tears, he tells Murad he’ll take the fall for the carjacking and that Murad shouldn’t get involved with the cops. If Murad doesn’t get this chance to follow his dreams, he could easily turn into another Moeen.

DEAD POET'S SOCIETY

How a wild, feminist show about a 20-something Emily Dickinson became Apple TV+’s true breakout hit

BOLD MOVES

Skaid Designs transcends conventional boundaries to create eccentric yet authentic results

THE POWER OF POLITICS

“If you can’t be the king, be the kingmaker!” This line echoes in our heads as we sit down for a candid conversation with the nawab and kingmaker himself, Saif Ali Khan, as he takes GQ through the world of his upcoming Amazon Original series, Tandav

THE FINAL FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

Bill Gates wants to immunise the world against the most deadly pandemic in a century. But given the rising tide of corona conspiracy theories – with some of the most outlandish directed at the Microsoft billionaire himself – the battle for people’s minds is becoming just as important as developing a vaccine. Here’s how the anti-vax lobby is quietly gaining a foothold in the Middle East – and the risks it poses

REWIND, UNWIND

Rahul Bose’s visit to the Maldives and its ethereal waters is a reminder of what’s beautiful in the world during these grim times

THE BIG WIN

Why every inch counts

ELEMENTS OF SURPRISE

Hublot’s Big Bang ditches rubber straps in favour of an integrated bracelet – a sign of changing times

LET'S DANCE

Acquaint yourself with the musical stylings of queer brown pop musician Aish Divine, who is infusing his beats with a big dose of diversity and being the change he wants to see

A TWIST IN THE TALE

As new episodes of his critically acclaimed series Servant get set to drop, film-maker M Night Shyamalan talks to Arun Janardhan about his second innings in Hollywood and telling dystopian stories in dystopian times

IN THE SPIRIT OF CELEBRATION

Adding a celebratory touch to Christmas and New Year festivities, Jack Daniel’s’ latest consumer activation saw several lucky winners from across major cities in India walk home with the exclusive ‘Jack Tree Of Cheer’

A STAR IS BORN BRENDAN FERNANDES' VERY BIG YEAR

Few artists on the global scene are as multi-talented and inventive as the Goan-Canadian Brendan Fernandes. The 40-year-old rising star, who works at the intersection of dance and the visual arts, had a spectacular 2019, including a headline slot at the prestigious Whitney Biennale. Last year, he debuted a witty online work that riffs on our current Zoom-dominated reality. Vivek Menezes tells you why this creative powerhouse should be firmly on your radar

NO FILTER

Rajkummar Rao delivered two superlative back-to-back performances last year – as a diffident school PE teacher in Hansal Mehta’s Chhalaang and an endearing small-town lover in Ludo, reminding us that few actors can do what he does. Arun Janardhan spoke to the versatile actor who stars in this month’s much anticipated Netflix release The White Tiger, about his craft and what’s next for him

WRITTEN IN THE STARS

From the easy vibe of his flagship restaurant, Spago, Beverly Hills, to being caterer-elect of the Oscars for 25 years running, Wolfgang Puck unwittingly cracked the formula to being Hollywood’s favourite chef early on

THE MYSTIQUE OF MIRAZUR

Chef Mauro Colagreco helms the reigning No 1 restaurant on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. He was also voted the world’s No 1 chef by the esteemed Gault & Millau guide this year. We had a tête-à-tête with the culinary superstar as part of GQ India’s first virtual Food and Drink Festival

PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER

The story of hydroxychloroquine is a strange and twisted tale pitting power against knowledge. Let’s not repeat it

GLOBAL POP ICON: MALUMA

From Medellín to the world, Maluma’s ascent to global pop superstardom has been stratospheric. His tracks are dance-floor anthems across the planet, with 55 million followers on Instagram who watch his every move. He’s as adventurous with his style as he is with his music, an evangelist for the power of cross-cultural expression and collaboration. With a clear eye on Asia in 2021, it’s just onwards and upwards for this “farm boy” from Colombia.

CHIVAS PRESENTS ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR: NIKHIL KAMATH

This Bengaluru native dropped out of school at 14 to play chess professionally. Three years later, he started trading stocks. By the age of 23, he’d launched Zerodha along with his elder brother Nithin Kamath: A future-forward platform that effectively hauled the Indian stock market into the 21st century. Zerodha has grown into a unicorn and is now one of India’s hottest companies, making him the country’s youngest billionaire at 34. With the asset management company True Beacon, his next disruption lies in the hedge funds space. Soft-spoken and introspective, Kamath represents the ambition and dexterity of an upwardly-mobile generation bullish about their prospects in an increasingly digital world.

FLIP THE SCRIPT

How to turn 2020 on its head, and prep for a brand new year

JEEP PRESENTS THE HUMANITARIAN AWARD: SONU SOOD

Back in the spring of 2020, as the pandemic paralysed human activity around the world, one man sprung into action. Sood supported everyone he could, from the very beginning of the lockdown: Helping thousands of migrant workers reach their homes, transporting stranded students from overseas and opening the doors of his Juhu hotel for medical personnel. The good work doesn’t stop: He is now in the process of building a platform to skill and connect informal workers with job opportunities. As they say, you don’t need a cape to be a superhero.

FASHION ICON: SIR PAUL SMITH

Sir Paul Smith is a fashion industry legend, a menswear maestro who created his eponymous label and grew it into a multi-million dollar empire. Although, now venerated around the globe for his impeccable taste, Smith’s roots are humble: Born into a working-class family in a provincial English town; opening a small shop in Nottingham where he first began designing and getting noticed; and on to Paris where he first showed his menswear collection in 1976. Since then, the label has developed into a powerhouse fashion brand, with a cult following in Japan, and a global fan base that reveres his quirky twists on classic tailoring. Over the decades his signature multicoloured stripes have found fans among aesthetes everywhere – including Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford and David Bowie. The Paul Smith brand celebrates its 50th anniversary this year: Half a century of pioneering style, independence and creativity. And to mark the occasion, Sir Paul is doing what all true legends do: Giving back, by working through his foundation to empower and enrich the creative class across the planet.

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: HANSAL MEHTA

Mehta’s powerful storytelling has always brought to life the humour and humanity behind headline-making events and figures. With notable films like Shahid, Aligarh and Omertà, he has chronicled the shifting contours of Indian society. Long a favourite of the critics, he impressed audiences far and wide this year with the masterful Scam1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. He also forayed into the mainstream masala space like never before with Chhalaang. With 23 years in the industry behind him, he stands at the cusp of a new decade and phase in his career. Among India’s most acclaimed film-makers, this is Hansal Mehta 4.0.

TALKING HEADS

2020’s voice assistant speakers aren’t just getting smarter by the day, they’re also ready to fill up your room with excellent sound as they optimise your day-to-day living – even if you don’t have a smart home to match just yet