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

COAT TALES

Wonder how we select the season’s sexiest outerwear? Oh, the lengths we go to

Inside Beirut's Broken Heart

After the catastrophic blast of August 4 – one of the largest recorded explosions in human history – Beirut was coming to terms with an unbearable trauma. In the days that followed, Nasri Atallah grappled with his country’s past, present and future

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

You’ve heard it before: Social media is addictive and manipulative and rewiring your brain every day. But the truth is, it is possible to break out of the tech cage, if you subtract the hyperbole and induce incremental changes. Going cold turkey never worked for anyone

THE ARCHIVISTS OF ASSAGAO

Meet Chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar and Shalini Krishan, the duo behind the country’s most quietly revolutionary culinary landmark: Goa’s Edible Archives

LOVE, ACTUALLY

In its new season, The Crown tackles the saga of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer. Julie Miller catches up with actors Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor about portraying one of the most famous (and ill-fated) couples of the 20th century

THE REINVENTION OF ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

Since March, when cinemas shuttered and filming came to a halt, viewers’ attention shifted vigorously to streaming services. As entertainment became a precious commodity and most actors were relegated to posting fitness videos, only one performer appeared oddly busy. Arun Janardhan caught up with Abhishek Bachchan, days before the release of Anurag Basu’s Ludo on Netflix, as he stands on the cusp of rebooting his career

THE RIGHT ACCORD

Nothing quite defines a man like a signature scent. Whether it’s fresh, fougère, oriental or gourmand, the right perfume can underline your personality effortlessly. Just choose your fragrance family, and leave the rest to us

JUST MALUMA

With a superhit album in 2020, Papi Juancho, the Latin pop star from Medellín caps a decade of massive highs, collaborations and making music that moves the world. But Maluma, also known for his eclectic taste in fashion, is just getting started on the next phase of this ascent, a journey of exploring languages and cultures – beginning with a plan to conquer Asia in 2021

High Stakes

Fintech wizkid and the founder of Zerodha, Nithin Kamath, has parlayed a personal passion for trading into building the country’s leading broking firm in the span of a decade. And now he’s overseeing a period of explosive growth for the company in the midst of a pandemic, thanks to a new generation of first-time investors. Arun Janardhan gets the low-down

Big UP

Why you need to bulk up before you can shred

NO Reservations

In Ravi Patel’s jocular, ever-expanding universe, any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely intentional. It is also a means to find answers to the big questions, discover parts unknown and build community. The American actor-creator of Indian origin weighs in on his extraordinary journey so far – from an investment banker to a stint in Wonder Woman 1984 – and his future capers on the road to world domination

chaos THEORY

Fareed Zakaria is one of the world’s leading public intellectuals and the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN. In his new book, Ten Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World, he draws on his extensive experience as a journalist, media personality and academic to invent a set of principles that are likely to be crucial for success in the turbulent years ahead

Covid-19 Has Not Killed Off The Office

The truth is, it died years ago

GQ'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2020 SO FAR

In a wild year that’s sure to get wilder, these are the books that have stood out

Nuclear Fusion

Acquaint yourself with the world-melding sounds of Yanchan, the Canadian hip-hop artist of Sri Lankan descent, who is drawing new energy from an ancient instrument

SUBLIME

When he became the first person of Arab descent to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, Rami Malek had climbed the mountain. Now, with a starring role in an iconic franchise, he s̓standing on one summit and staring at a whole new peak

FLYING SOLO

For three decades, Aasif Mandvi, the British-American actor-creator of Indian origin, has worked hard to mainstream the immigrant experience in Hollywood and theatre. He’s played the skeptic, the cynic, the empiricist, the debunker, the myth-buster. Now, as he learns his way around fatherhood, and returns to an ever-more woke workplace, Mandvi takes stock of the world as it was, is and as he’d like for it to be

STRAIGHT SHOOTER

The world is in flux. And investors are on the hunt. Some countries will rise, others will lag. Powerhouse investor and writer Ruchir Sharma has refined his formula for what lies around the corner

Thinker Tailor

In an age of speedy obsolescence, what does it take to make a gadget live forever? Diwik Singh Chhalani, founder of the sustainable luxury speaker brand Diwiks, tells Nidhi Gupta about his vision for timeless technology

THE Alchemist

From starring in Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile this month, alongside a sublime cast, to bagging the lead role in the prestige project Codename: Johnny Walker, Ali Fazal is officially Hollywood’s favourite Indian actor. But the Lucknow-bred, Doon-educated artist remains deeply connected to his roots, with the hotly anticipated second season of Mirzapur - in which he plays the lead - ticking ominously around the corner

Mumbai Central

Scenes of the pandemic from India’s epicentre through the eyes of photographer Colston Julian

CRYSTAL CLEAR

With macOS Big Sur, Apple gives its desktop UI its biggest facelift in 20 years. Alan Dye, VP of Human Interface, takes GQ through a redesign that marries minimalist design with utility

The Hate U Give

The most powerful African-American voices you need to be reading right now

Vidyut Jammwal - The Outsider

Every generation produces a new kind of action star. Ours is Vidyut Jammwal, a trained martial artist in kalaripayattu, who’s built himself a strong and loyal following through his high-octane action films as well as his explosive – and frankly, insane – fitness videos on social media. Meet the actor who plays by his own rules

RIDING THE WAVE

How to adapt – and flow through life

SERVICE LIP

Through her masterful Trump lip syncs, Sarah Cooper has become the voice of a nation – without saying a word