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TO BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM.
AUDEMARS PIGUET® | INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY
BOMBER BY EMPORIO ARMANI. JACKET, JOGGERS; BOTH BY DIESEL. SNEAKERS BY ONITSUKA TIGER. WATCH BY RADO
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ROCKET MAN Hrithik Roshan tells all. Written by Shikha Sethi INDIA
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CONTENTS
24 Editor’s Letter 28 Contributors 30 GQ Access 163 Where to Buy 166 Humour
140
HOW TO Ace LIFE
Seth Rogen and the Science of Rogenomics 114
124 WATCH Here’s how to experience the Mille Miglia if you’re not racing; Swatch has a quirky new collab; Louis Vuitton is making moves in the art of timekeeping
72 MANIFESTO: FREE FLOW
12 —
JULY 2019
The origins of Stan Lee’s favourite superhero; Step into the inner circle of Andy Warhol through the lens of photographer Paige Powell; Tech gear that only makes gaming better; Rapper ScHoolboy Q is into golf; Sujoy Ghosh gets on the horror bandwagon; The best in movies, music, festivals and art this month
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96
39 VIBE
CONTENTS
FRESH TAKE HOT SAUCE 108
77 STYLE
58
Kim Jones and Dior Men have your newest look figured out; Sabyasachi turns 20 – we look back at the brand’s legacy; Do you choose trainers or slides this season?; Henry Cavill dishes on his many style moves; Hermès continues to rule menswear; The best, latest drops from the fashion world
64 THE GOODLIFE The Araku Valley is ready to dominate the coffee scene in India; Home lighting hacks from an expert design duo; Where to eat, stay and party right now
HIT MAKERS 150
132
GQ POWERPLAY Take a tour of the sacred home of cricket; Remember these heroes of past World Cup finals?; Test cricket gets its moment in the spotlight
158
TIME FRAME
144 DRIVE
Volvo presents large, luxurious SUVs; Meet Italy’s fastest hypercar
The World According to Nas 14 —
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IMAGE: CHE KURRIEN
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OPENS UP
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EDITOR'S LETTER
few weeks ago, in a bolt from the blue, American GQ uploaded a glorious image of George Michael to its Instagram. It took about two minutes for the post to blow up, a spontaneous digital outburst steeped in nostalgia and childlike zeal. I double-tapped too, joining the virtual embrace of a childhood hero. For many us who came of age in the 1980s, George Michael was the gold standard: movie star looks and bad boy edge with the voice of an angel. Wham’s Make It Big was the first record I fell in love with. It was 1986, the year of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Top Gun and Chernobyl. I still had milk teeth. The next summer, I visited London for the first time. It was heady: punks awash in leather, flaming pink hair, pierced tongues, dark makeup. So weird, so cocky, so unlike home. My eyes opened. These days London is more accessible, but less distinct, less wild, more generic. I have to tread carefully here, and not fall into the classic inter-generational trap of feeling like things have gotten worse with time. The truth is, I was too young to fully experience the hedonism, creativity and superficiality of the 1980s. But I did have a glimpse. And it was electric. To delve a little deeper into this period, you could do worse than to hunt down ace photographer Paige Powell’s important new book Beulah Land, a project supported by Gucci. Powell grew up in Portland but moved to New York in the 1980s, where she fell into Andy Warhol’s inner circle, giving her a ringside view of the city’s explosive arts scene. She even dated Jean-Michel Basquiat. In this issue, we interview Powell about this era, and the unbridled creativity it spawned. George Michael would have enjoyed flipping through its sumptuous pages. George Michael, idol of an entire generation
@chekurriengq
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JULY 2019
PHOTO: MAX HERMANS/THOMPSON PHOTO IMAGERY (CHE). IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (GEORGE MICHAEL)
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EightIes relived
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CONTRIBUTORS
T H E TA S T E M A K E R
BENGAL TIGER He’s the reserved, quiet designer who’s built an empire at the epicentre of the noisy excess of the Big Fat Indian Wedding. But Sabysachi Mukherjee is about to pivot in a direction you couldn’t have anticipated W RIT TEN BY PHYLLIDA JAY
PRAKASH AMRITRAJ
“I got my hair cut by a random barber while covering Wimbledon for television, in Doha. Let’s just say he did not do a good job!”
“I would never want fish to eat my feet.”
A BIZARRE GROOMING EXPERIENCE? CAROLINE McCLOSKEY WHO: Los Angeles-based writer who loves eating dinner at 5pm and reading books by Rachel Cusk. Twitter @sangfroid77 WHAT: “Seth Rogen and the Science of
Rogenomics”, page 114 The watch List: “Pineapple Express and This Is The End are great, but I love Rogen in Take This Waltz. He takes on a subtler, more dramatic role, and slays it.”
“I can’t get down with oil pulling, and not for lack of trying.”
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JULY 2019
WHO: Fashion author based between the UK and India whose book, Inspired By India, is out this year. WHAT: “Bengal Tiger”, page 78 A Sabyasachi must: “A piece made from the glorious Murshidabad khadi he works with.”
TEJAL PATNI WHO: A photographer who’s always on the move, trying to give people something they haven’t seen before. WHAT: “Rocket Man”, page 100 ace Quality: “Hrithik Roshan is all about perfection. It’s something the younger generation in the industry can’t really match.”
“I find facials for men extremely weird.”
IMAGE: MATT SAYLES (AMRITRAJ)
WHO: LA-based actor, film producer and sports broadcaster who loves giving motivational speeches. Instagram & Twitter @prakashamritraj WHAT: “How to Ace Life”, page 140 this is where it all started: “I was visiting Wimbledon when I was nine years old. My father, Vijay Amritraj, who was competing, took me to the ‘A’ Locker Room (only the top players in the world are allowed here), and I found myself sitting in between Pete Sampras and Boris Becker. At that moment, I realised this was what I wanted to do.”
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GQ 100 BEST-DRESSED PARTY WHERE: E: JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
Katrina Kaif
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JULY 2019
T There’s no better way to celebrate an anniversary annivers t h a party. The 10th edition of GQ’s Bestthan with Dressed People in India saw celebrities like Ahuj Katrina Kaif, Karan Johar, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja nd Ahuja raise the style quotient on the and Anand et alongside some of the country’s bestbes red carpet k mor known designers, models, musicians and more. of and Edwin STATS Houghton kept the DJs Proof d f oor packed through the night, and food and dance floor d i k flowed. The party reached its peak when drinks i ional funny man Russell Peters made a international s i appearance. From the experimental to the h surprise cl i the he night saw fashion at its best. classic,
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GQ PROMOTION
WHERE SERENITY AWAITS
To mark its one-year anniversary at the iconic The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, Jiva Spa presents Royal Spa Retreat – a thoughtfully curated package that ushers you into a world of wellness
The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai has always enthralled the world by taking the best traditions of hospitality and combining them with contemporary amenities. And the newly renovated Jiva Spa, which was inaugurated last year at the city’s much-loved heritage hotel is no different. With
a philosophy rooted in the country’s ancient healing wisdom and Ayurveda, it beckons you to celebrate its first anniversary with the unique Royal Spa Retreat package. While its organic design accented with contemporary flourishes ensconces with a calming vibe, its holistic rituals, administered at the deft hands of trained therapists, will rejuvenate your senses like never before. Jiva Spa’s Royal Spa Retreat package includes one hour-long THE ROYAL SPA RETREAT PACKAGE, JIVA SPA Cost per couple: `26,000 ++ a night Duration: July 15th – September 30th, 2019
Indian aromatherapy massage per day and a private consultation with the yoga guru in addition to round-theclock butler services and a heritage tour of the palace hotel. Meals are also covered, including a healthy satvik meal at Masala Kraft. Beverages, both hot and cold, will flow through the day at the Palace Lounge. And what’s more, is that you can customise your experience by adding in therapies, yoga and meditation sessions and wellness meals. So, take a mid-season break and make the most of the Royal Spa Retreat package by Jiva Spa at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai – you’ll be glad you did. Book online at tajhotels.com, call the toll-free India number at 1-800-111-825 or email reservations@tajhotel.com
EDITED BY NIDHI GUPTA
IMAGE: © TM & © 2018 MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT, LLC (COMIC BOOK)
In 1971, Roy Thomas became the first person besides Stan Lee to write Spider-Man when he penned Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 No. 100 while Lee was on sabbatical for a few months to write a screenplay with director Alain Resnais (the film was never produced).
FILM
BITTEN BY THE bug
As Tom Holland swings by in Spider-Man: Far From Home this month, Roy Thomas traces the origins of Stan Lee’s favourite superhero JULY 2019
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ack in 1961, it took a while to find out how well a comicbook had sold. It could take half a year before a publisher knew just how many people had actually bought the blasted thing. Martin Goodman must’ve had a fairly early inkling, though — and he didn’t count fan mail, however enthusiastic Stan might be about it — that their new bimonthly comic was finding an audience. Because the company’s second new super hero title was put into production so soon that its debut came around the same time as the fourth issue of FF (as Stan affectionately nicknamed the comic), i.e., just six months after Fantastic Four No. 1. With the success of Fantastic Four, Goodman wanted more than one new super hero comic in 1962. He wanted several. But rather than introduce them in brand-new comics titles that would have to sink or swim, this next round of heroes would be shoehorned into already existing mags like Journey into Mystery, et al. There’s no way to be sure which new hero series was created third, after Fantastic Four and Hulk, since three new characters would debut that summer: Thor, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man. But there’s a very good chance it was the wall-crawler. In his youth, Stanley Martin Lieber had loved the masked hero of a pulp magazine called The Spider. There hadn’t really been anything spiderlike about him besides his name, but Stanley had loved that name. But when Stan Lee told his boss his Spider-Man idea, Goodman loathed everything about it! Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home
The name? “You can’t call a hero Spider-Man, Stan. People hate spiders!” (Did he think people liked gigantic monsters who crunched cities between their toes?) The concept? “He’s a teenager? Teenagers can only be sidekicks!” (Guess Goodman had never noticed a DC comic called Superboy, which had been around since 1949.) The “personal problems” Stan wanted him to have? “Heroes are too busy fighting evil to slow down the stories with personal stuff.” Still, Stan got a grudging okay to stick his new hero in Amazing Adult Fantasy. Since its name change from Amazing Adventures, that comic had consisted of “all Lee and Ditko, all the time!” — short fantasy tales with O. Henry-style twist endings. Quality-wise, it was a minor gem. But sales were tanking. Back in the 1940s, [the industry] had been up to its cape in characters named Superman, Batman, Hawkman, Amazing-Man, Bulletman, Dynamic Man, Fly Man, etc., — not to mention a Spider Woman — and a Spider Widow — even a Spider Queen. Though never, ever, a Spider-Man. With or without a hyphen. Stan wanted the hero to be a teenager. And not a football-hero type of teenager, either, but a guy who could be described as a “bookworm” and “Midtown High’s only professional wallflower”; a youth who’d gain the proportionate strength and other attributes of a spider, but who, when not in costume, would be just another high school nerd. Kirby, however, just naturally drew the kid to “look like Captain America.” Well, no big deal. Stan gave Steve Ditko a tryout on Spider-Man. [Ditko] not only captured the right feel for the teenager and his high school contemporaries, but he designed a Spider-Man costume that was perfection itself. When in action, his arachnid teen had a look that was both heroic and at the same time a bit ungainly (only natural when a guy is crawling down a wall or across a ceiling). The story was no slacker, either. In 11 packed pages, as worked out by Stan and Ditko, it gave the hero an origin that bordered on the ludicrous (bitten by a radioactive spider, indeed!) yet probably made as much sense as being bombarded by cosmic rays — or coming from another planet as an infant. It put Spider-Man through his paces, showing off his new-found abilities. And so Amazing Fantasy No. 15 was born. The word Adult was dropped from the title, because Stan and/or Goodman felt it looked odd in the name of a comicbook that starred a super hero called Spider-Man. After all, what “adult” was liable to read a story about what Stan called, on its very first page, a “long underwear character?” An excerpt adapted from Taschen’s The Stan Lee Story
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK (WEB ILLUSTRATION)
VIBE
GQ PROMOTION
DINING SKY HIGH
Inside the swish environs of Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru, an enchanting experience awaits. From enjoying artisanal cocktails to relishing Asian fare, the hotel’s 21st floor sure is a magical place Picture this. You step into a sleek elevator that zips you up to the 21st floor. The doors open and you’re greeted by a warm glow of light, interspersed with a touch of whimsy. The floor spreads out, filled with the scents of delicious food and an air of exclusivity that you can only find at a Four Seasons hotel. Welcome to Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru. Rising high at the heart of Bengaluru, this luxurious property is a mere half-hour drive away from Kempegowda International Airport. Equipped with 191 elegantly appointed rooms and 39 suites, this is a space that offers each guest the true taste of luxury. Think indulgent coffee scrubs at the spa, a quiet pool
deck with a cascading waterfall and gourmet dining experiences. Speaking of which, the 21st floor at the hotel is a destination in itself. It houses Copitas, a glamorous destination bar as well as Far & East, an Asian brasserie. Begin your evening at Far & East, a striking restaurant washed in accents of bright tangerine. Revel in the hub of activity around as you tuck into Japanese, Thai and Chinese fare, plated to perfection. Bite into plump, warm dim sums, choose from an array of sushi and before you leave, call for the Flaming Duck, the show stopper of the evening. If the night is still young, step into Copitas, apt for sundowners and
after-dinner tipples. Influences from fashion, high couture and delicate jewellery pieces are subtly peppered throughout the space. Light blends with shadow, providing the perfect setting for you to sit back with a well-made craft cocktail in hand, taking in the glittering Bengaluru skyline. Be it sundowners at Copitas or decadent dinners at Far & East, Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru should be your first stop for a true taste of indulgence. For more information, visit fourseasons.com/bengaluru or follow @fsbengaluru on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
VIBE
INSIDE OUT Q&A
It’s never not a good time to look at Andy Warhol and the significance of his art – but a new set of photography books by close friend and confidant Paige Powell takes us deep into his inner circle
American Ballet Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch, Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata and other hidden, subterranean theatre productions. Also, the great neighbourhoods of Harlem, Little Italy and Chinatown, with culturally rich histories, before they became gentrified with fancy boutiques. The quick and decisive pace [of the city] – and being at the forefront of creating the new, rather than tailing it. How would you describe the art scene of the 1980s? It’s easier to describe that particular scene now with some perspective on it, than at the time. Then, we were all just living in the moment, when creativity reigned and making money took the back seat. There was no ceiling on creativity and the goal was to create whatever you wanted and just make enough money to get by. Of course, that has all changed now. What are your favourite stories about Andy Warhol? What most people don’t know is that Andy was comedic, talkative and a good business person. He also gave beauty tips like: “If you don’t drink alcoholic beverages you can always wear it as a perfume” (like he did with Absolut vodka); “Always put lotion on your feet at night like Brigid Berlin”; “Paint your white sneakers black if you are going to a formal dinner or event”; “Janet Sartin was the best facialist”; and “Never measure a bad review by what the critics say, measure only by square inch – size is more important.”
What motivated you to look through your archives after 30 years, and put together these books? Actually, I wasn’t motivated at all, as it was too overwhelming with so many boxes of ephemera, slides, contact sheets, prints, videos and Polaroids. I couldn’t face the prospect of any sort of project, or attempt to organise the chaos of material. Everything had basically been thrown into boxes without any sort of order, like an unarchived time capsule. But my close friend Thomas Lauderdale, founder and leader of the little symphony band Pink Martini, is also a genius historian. He decided to create an archive for me in his loft building in downtown Portland. That was about five years ago.
What was the idea behind Animals? It was a discovery by the editor of the books, Kim Hastreiter. While perusing hundreds of my contact sheets, she noticed that I had loads of animal photographs, and because I am a long-time animal activist, she thought it would make a great book. I took some of those images in India, actually. In 1993 and 1994, I made trips to Rajasthan. The first was a two-week horse safari, and for the second, I was there for five weeks, which included horses, but I also became involved with Maneka Gandhi’s Animal and Environmental Rights movement when she was the Indian Cabinet Minister, and volunteered at the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre in Delhi. I studied Jainism when I returned to America.
What did you discover about NYC when you first moved there? So many incredible artists, art galleries, fantastic ballet companies and performers like the NYC Ballet,
How has your work as an animal rights activist evolved? I locally and globally support numerous animal nonprofits, and started the first online animal welfare
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JULY 2019
INTERVIEW: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GUCCI
H
ollywood actor Matt Dillon playing with a dalmatian. Queen of pop Madonna with dancer Erika Belle at the short-lived NYC club Fresh 14. Acclaimed film director Gus Van Sant holding up an early edition of the Polaroid camera. A toothy portrait of beatbox pioneer Emanon Johnson at American painter Kenny Scharf’s studio. Andy Warhol looking on as breakdancer Doze Green pulls a seemingly perfect boomerang on the floor. Elaborate spreads of cheese, chocolate and wine being consumed by ravished artists. These are just some of the candid moments to be found in Paige Powell, a set of four books (Artists Eating, Beulah Land, Animals and Paige Powell) released by Dashwood, with support from Gucci, earlier this year. If you haven’t heard of Powell, it’s only because she’s been reticent about putting her work and name out in the world. In 1980, she moved from Portland, Oregon, where she grew up, to New York, because it was her “dream to live in NYC and work for this beautiful, artistic and culturally fascinating publication” called Interview magazine. As an advertising associate, she became close with Warhol and his inner circle of people who defined New York’s arts scene of the era. She even dated Jean-Michel Basquiat for a bit. And, as Powell always had a camera slung around her neck, she managed to capture the wild times that Andy Warhol’s glittering entourage got up to. “I suppose I was inspired by the enormous creativity and cultural diversity that we didn’t have in Oregon,” Powell tells GQ over email. “I never thought of myself as documenting, but rather just being part of the mix of what was happening in my daily life.”
(Top) Paige Powell with Andy Warhol, featured in Paige Powell; (Far left) Madonna, Erika Belle and friend at Fresh 14, featured in Beulah Land; (Left) Stephen Klein’s family pig, Ernie, helps clean the dishes, featured in Animals
magazine in 1995, Ark Online. My friend, the novelist Tama Janowitz, and I had a TV cable access show in Manhattan and on Long Island called It’s A Dog’s Life. Cats’ Too. And Sometimes Birds. We modelled the 30-minute show after Grey Gardens and QVC – profiling dogs, cats and birds for adoption, neuter and spay, educating the public about caring for their canine and feline kids. It was very successful, and we won the Humanitarian Award for best programme on the channel. Gucci has also been so supportive of me, my art projects and my activism. It generously gave a gift to panthera.org, whose mission is to protect the world’s 40 wild cat species from poaching and encroachment by humans on their ecosystems. I am so grateful to Gucci for its humanitarianism, openness and generosity. It’s pretty amazing that the most successful and visionary
Creative Director Alessandro Michele and the Gucci team can also have the biggest hearts. Looking back, what are your favourite memories of 1980s New York? The vibe of the city was high-voltage energy, fun, extravagant, Japanese and Italian clothes, outrageous after-hour clubs that opened at 3am like Brownies, Laight Again. Lots and lots of parties – and because we worked at Interview, we would get stacks of elaborate invitations hand-delivered daily, to parties, museum openings, film and theatre premieres and dinner events. But there was a terrible and sad downside to the city: the AIDS epidemic. It was like an unknown transparent war and we lost so many extraordinary friends and other creative people to this horrible disease. NYC is, and was, about extreme highs and lows. JULY 2019
— 43
VIBE
ARCADE FIRE GEAR
ACER PREDATOR X34 This 34-inch display packs nearly two times as many pixels as a standard HD monitor and gently curves to fully saturate your field of view. It’s a first-person shooter’s dream screen, with a special mode to brighten gloomy dungeons and a crosshairbolding mode for snappier sniping. Oh, and there’s no lag, so when you get blasted you’ll have only yourself to blame. `1,30,000 44 —
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WORDS: JEFFREY VAN CAMP. IMAGE: KELSEY MCCLELLAN. STYLIST: MICHELLE MAGUIRE
A pile of new equipment – sporting new features – fine-tunes desktop gaming
RAZER BLACKWIDOW ELITE The Elite is a loot box of a keyboard, with dedicated media keys for controlling music, a detachable wrist rest and a digital dial that can control volume or whatever function you want. The customisable RGB lighting under each snappy, clicky mechanical key can even be programmed to light up differently for every character in Overwatch. `15,999
STEELSERIES ARCTIS PRO + GAMEDAC Headsets made just for gaming often feel uncomfortably rigid and sweat-inducingly hot. This unit stretches around the cranium like a pair of snowboarding goggles, and its soft earpads stay on the cool side for hours. The sound from the high-fidelity speakers is among the best I’ve heard in a pair of gaming headphones. I also like dialling in separate levels for the sound of the game and the chatter of my online teammates. `29,999
LOGITECH G703 + POWERPLAY You don’t have to plug in this wireless gaming mouse to charge it – just pushing it around on Logitech’s Powerplay pad keeps it juiced up at all times. The mouse responds as quickly as my reflexes, and I don’t have to worry about battery life any more. That peace of mind is well worth the asking price. `22,999 for both
ASUS ROG STRIX GL 12 This desktop PC is so powerful you won’t need to overclock it to get stable, fast gameplay. The chassis is stuffed with bleeding-edge processors like Intel’s latest Core i9 CPU and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU; plus, the three fans and dual isolated air chambers will keep things chill during your long hours of Apex Legends. From `1,23,900 *MRP as available on amazon.in
OWNING A MERCEDES-BENZ
Meet Siddharth Gogate, a businessman and proud owner of a Mercedes GLC. In conversation, he sheds light on the signature Mercedes-Benz after-sales service experience and tells us all about the excellent value it offers to each and every customer When you own a Mercedes-Benz, perfection is what you’re constantly looking out for. Be it in the engine of your car or its flawless design, you always want your Star to embody excellence in every way. Understanding your desire for perfection is ’My Mercedes. My Service.’, a program that redefines the idea of an ownership experience. Its range of services lets you focus on the thrill of driving your luxury car instead of worrying about its maintenance. The Digital Service Drive for instance, is designed for your absolute convenience while the Star Ease Maintenance Packages promise a convenient and hasslefree ownership experience. And who can vouch for this better than a Mercedes-Benz customer? Meet Siddharth Gogate, a successful engineer and proud Mercedes-Benz owner. He holds a B.E. Mechanical Engineering degree and is the COO of his family-run engineering company based in Navi Mumbai. We ask him what he gets up to when he’s not busy working. And we find out that just like your average millennial, Siddharth can be found at the gym come evening and bingewatching movies and TV shows by night. We chatted with him about his personal experience with the brand’s signature after-sales services. Here’s what he had to say.
Tell us about your experience as a Mercedes-Benz customer. We own a GLC that I am completely in love with. To quote Jon Snow, she’s ‘my queen’. This is actually our very first Mercedes-Benz! And it has truly been a delightful experience, particularly in terms of the sales and the service offered. At the very first visit, we decided to go for a Mercedes-Benz over any other brand. The car looked and functioned exceptionally well and the sales team was highly knowledgeable. The entire experience sort of made the decision for us. Moreover, being a Mercedes-Benz customer means putting yourself in safe, proficient hands. Safety is key to the brand. Their Star Ease maintenance packages also make fixing all your concerns an absolute breeze. These packages come with plenty of unique features and provide customers with a wide assortment of benefits. I highly advocate the Mercedes-Benz Genuine Parts that go far beyond mere performance. They endure for a long time. Their Genuine Oil and Genuine Chemical products too, ensure that your Star receives quality care, at all times. I was greatly impressed by the manner in which the service professionals attended to me. They were prompt, resourceful and provided a thoroughly seamless service experience.
You’ve spoken about a seamless after-sales service experience. Is there any particular incident that comes to mind? It so happened that at one point, the minute I’d release the brake when my car was at a standstill, there’d be a loud noise. Concerned, I contacted the Mercedes-Benz service center. Not only was the issue wonderfully resolved, but the manner in which the team tackled the situation was exemplary. Personalized attention is offered at all times and the process is both transparent and prompt. My car was scrupulously evaluated and returned as good as new. Suffice to say that I never faced the same problem again. I was also fascinated by their Digital Service Drive. It’s one of the fastest, most expedient initiatives for busy customers to have their vehicles maintained without any trouble. Everything happens effortlessly, online. I’ve received estimates on email, SMS reminders for services due and have also opted for videocalls with Service Advisors who’ll answer all your questions and keep you updated at all times. Their pick-up and drop facility too, is a real blessing. This kind of personalized, professional service is what sets this brand a cut above. This is a brand that cares for its customers enough to offer an outstanding initiative like the Digital Service Drive. If you were to describe the Mercedes-Benz after-sales service to someone, what would you say? The Mercedes-Benz after-sales service is completely hassle-free. And it all begins with their exceptional service team. The team’s technical expertise coupled with a highly commendable problem-solving attitude enables them to address any concerns that you may have. They’re also friendly and approachable, driven by a sense of passion. Another aspect of the after-sales service that I enjoy is placing a quick call to book my service appointment. Their offer of a complimentary pick-up and drop service is an absolute boon, considering our busy schedules these days. It runs like clockwork, with the technician coming by to take notes and pick up the car. The service representative gets in touch with you next. Soon, you get an email listing out the problems to be solved and within a day or two, your car’s ready. It’s that simple. You don’t have to travel anywhere or wait in the lounge for hours on end just for your car to be ready. What’s even better is that if I book my service appointment for 10 am, they attend to me promptly at 10 am, ensuring that I’m back by 10:30-10:45 am. They’re excellent planners when it comes to service and maintenance. Their processes are smooth and speedy, handled efficiently by the team. What would you like to say about the Mercedes-Benz service facilities you’ve visited? With regards to the infrastructure, Mercedes-Benz facilities are the last word in excellence. Crafted to perfection, they’re honestly the best structures I’ve ever seen. In addition to that, the team at each facility is very helpful, friendly and proactive. Be it the parking areas or the sheer aesthetic appeal of the building, every aspect of these facilities is created with a great deal of thought and effort. I believe that every Mercedes-Benz facility is designed to make its customers feel like royalty. Suffice to say that your Mercedes-Benz experience does not merely end with the purchase of your Star. It goes far beyond, ensuring a comprehensive and unmatched value for service to each and every customer. Their highly valuable after-sales services are one of the many reasons why Mercedes-Benz stands a cut above.
GQ PROMOTION
I was greatly impressed by the manner in which the service professionals attended to me. They were prompt, resourceful and provided a thoroughly seamless service experience.
VIBE
MUSIC
BETTER BALL
In the three years since his last album, rapper ScHoolboy Q has kept a low profile. He also did what a lot of guys do in their early 30s: He got really into golf. Now that he’s released his new LP, Crash Talk, we asked Q to hit the links 48 —
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WORDS: JEFF WEISS. PHOTO: DANIELLE LEVITT. STYLIST: MOBOLAJI DAWODU. GROOMING: HEE SOO KWON. PRODUCTION: AUSTIN SEPULVEDA. LOCATION: CALABASAS COUNTRY CLUB
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t can happen to any of us: The reckless hedonism of your 20s gives way to the wholegrain realities and sobering responsibilities of your 30s. And suddenly, if you’re the 32-year-old psychedelically groovy LA gangsta rapper ScHoolboy Q, you may find yourself under the spell of a more serene (if no less addictive and expensive) habit: golf. “I had all these people telling me, ‘Why you playing a lame-ass sport? You a loser!’” the rapper born Quincy Hanley says, warping his box-cutter baritone into the highpitched mockery of an ignorant hater, “But like I tell everyone, ‘Bruh: Golf is life.’” They love Q here. “Here” being the Calabasas Country Club, a postcard expanse of glimmering emerald turf, gently sloping mountains and a 21-acre lake, a few minutes’ drive from Q’s home in the same ritzy neighbourhood. “They” being everyone from the 19-year-old caddies who want photos to flex on Instagram to the baronial whitehaired titans of commerce who greet him by name, slap high fives and give him jovial biceps taps like he just closed a deal. Unburdened from the demands of a nine-to-five existence, Q hits the links daily. His partner for nine holes in the afternoon is Adrian, a fit older Mexican-American man with wind-swept grey hair and black shades, who has become Q’s adoptive golfing padre. The golf obsession started just over a year ago, and while Q seems a natural on the course, his new habit is actually the culmination of a fraught series of events. He spent his early years on 51st Street in LA’s South Central before enrolling at a local community college intending to play football. By 2009, he had been incarcerated, had a daughter and gotten a trapezius tattoo that read FUCK LAPD – a nod, he says, to its habit of picking him up and then dropping him off unarmed in rival-gang territories. Rap was a miraculous lifeline. A former collegefootball teammate had become the engineer for the fledgling TDE, home of Kendrick Lamar. Q swiftly ingratiated himself with the West Coast’s now-dominant rap label.
Beginning with his second album, 2012’s Habits & Contradictions, Q – wearing bucket hats and tie-dye, rhyming over Portishead samples – reimagined what gangsta rap could look and sound like. If other rappers needed shotgun blasts and air horns to add extra energy, all Q needed to do was shout “YAWK YAWK YAWK!” The tremendous success of 2014’s Oxymoron spurred Q’s move into a mansion in Calabasas, one of those LA subdivisions that come complete with neighbours like Kanye and Drake. He even began personally homeschooling his daughter. It was the good life, until it wasn’t. “Being in the house so damn much can drive you crazy,” Q says. “Golf taught me patience, and you need that in the music industry, because this shit is evil.” Setting up at the tee, he gets into position. No one will mistake him for his favourite golfers (Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler), but it’s been only a year. His swing is still
a little stiff, but it’s powerful. He thwacks the ball 220 yards in the air, rounding into form. “People don’t give a fuck about you,” he adds, “All they want is music and to see you living the rapper life.” For Q, living the rapper life started interfering with the business of rapping. The last time I saw him, in 2014, he downed two Styrofoam cups full of promethazine and Sprite before 2am – a daily occurrence during his darkest stretches in the middle of the decade. He’s disclosed previous issues with Xanax and Percocet, too. He released Blank Face in 2016 to substantial acclaim, toured it and headed straight back into the studio once that was over, but he wasn’t feeling right. He estimates that he had made and discarded two full albums (“They were trash”) and completed a third, which he briefly concluded was ready for consumption before labelmates
Kendrick and Jay Rock convinced him it wasn’t. Darkness set in. “I’d be in the house smoking weed, just waiting to go to the studio every day. That’s not a good life. That brings on depression,” Q says, “It’s toxic for your kid, too.” There was also the risk of the ostensibly unthinkable. In the past two years alone, accidental overdoses resulted in the untimely demises of Lil Peep and Q’s close friend and collaborator Mac Miller, the latter of whom he still has a hard time talking about. It was a tough couple of years. Enter the game of kings and the Calabasas Country Club. Between the fresh air, the equally meditative and maddening aspects of the sport and the club’s apparently laissez-faire approach to his penchant for lighting up on the back nine, Q was immediately sold. He augmented his new obsession with boxing workouts, intermittent fasting (he’ll eat only between noon and 8pm) and daily morning sessions of Call Of Duty (“Videogames saved my life, too”). But it was ultimately golf that parted the psychic clouds, allowing him to lighten up and make the music that he actually wanted to make. Cue Crash Talk, his third major label album, which features Travis Scott and Kid Cudi and brings both sides of Q into harmony: the ferocious bulletholes-in-your-coupe-gangsta-rap assassin and the hedonistic, gonzo one-man party with an innate pop sensibility. It’s Q as killer and lover, reckless shit-talker and responsible father, grown up gangsta and aspiring scratch golfer. After another shanked drive on eight – Adrian assures me this is an off day for Q – the group reaches the ninth hole, a final chance for redemption. Q assumes the position and locks over that dimpled teardrop – and just like that, it’s effortless. Steel to ball to the fairway, a magisterial drive that would be the envy of every periodontist at the club. A pure shot with an iron, a chip onto the green, and an eight-foot putt later, he’s made par. “Yes, I’m back!” Q pumps his fists and whoops and exuberantly gives pounds to Adrian and me. “I’m back now!” JULY 2019
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VIBE
A still from Typewriter; (Below) Sujoy Ghosh and team on set
STREAM
TEARS FOR FEARS
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ghost story always has a place in everyone’s heart,” Sujoy Ghosh says, “because it’s about hope; it’s a sign of something very positive.” The director, best known for boundary-pushing suspense thrillers like Kahaani, Ahalya and, most recently, Badla, is explaining why he thinks horror cinema resonates with people everywhere, of all ages, across generations. “If you believe in ghosts, in the afterlife, in the supernatural, it takes the fear out of your heart.” With the Netflix series Typewriter, which he’s written and directed, Ghosh is venturing into the darkness for the first time. “Typewriter’s about four kids trying to find a ghost in their neighbourhood [in Goa], and the adventures they have in the process,” he summarises. Before you ask, he adds that it’s inspired by Stranger Things (“Such fun, so scary and adventurous; it’s the best thing I’ve seen in recent times!”) as much as by “Enid Blyton and Alfred Hitchcock, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.” 50 —
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Ghosh does not care to read too deeply into the metaphorical underpinnings of a horror story, but he does know what makes a good one. Take James Wan’s The Conjuring: “It’s the bible of horror. It ticks all the boxes on the list of what a horror story should have: A family comes to a city, they’ll sense something’s off but they’ll ignore it, there will always be kids who’ll see things differently from the adults; there’ll always be one Gandalf-type character. And, of course, lots of pets.” Not impressed by Asian horror, Ghosh says the ones that’ve stuck with him are the films and film-makers that “force you to see things or think differently. I mean, who’d have thought a video cassette or a restored car could give rise to a series of unfortunate events?” Ghosh laughs, referring to Gore Verbinski’s The Ring and John Carpenter’s Christine. “And who’d think something as inanimate and basic as a typewriter could be haunted? It’s when things become unexpected that the magic begins.”
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: ALAMY (MOVIE POSTERS)
Ahead of the release of his Netflix series Typewriter, film-maker and horror junkie Sujoy Ghosh click-clacks down memory lane – and it’s lined with strange encounters of the creepy kind
WATCH IT AGAIN Here, the cult classics Ghosh thinks are worth a revisit: not including Sixth Sense (“the godfather of all horror”) and The Shining (“Jack Nicholson, period”), for obvious reasons.
SALEM’S LOT (1979) T O BE H O O PE R
His first brush with horror, Ghosh watched this mini-series for actor David Soul, of whom he was a fan. “I had the shit scared out of me!”
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) W E S C R AV E N
Twelve years before Scream, Craven intercepted the constant stream of copycat ghosts with this unbelievably violent slasher.
ALBUMS
WOKE YOKE A lot of x’s and o’s on Ed Sheeran’s expansive new No 6 Collaborations Project
In 2011, on the verge of becoming a mainstream superstar, Ed Sheeran released a little EP called No 5 Collaborations Project. Featuring grime and rap acts like Devlin, Wiley, Ghetts and JME, each track was meant to act as a musical, telling a specific story. The eight-song record is significantly darker (sample “Family” ft P Money and “Nightmares” ft Random Impulse, Sway and Wretch 32) than the sugary pop that the Grammy winner has come to be known for – especially since he made it a point to not write songs about girls for that record. Sheeran enjoyed the process enough to revive the project in 2018 while on tour, putting together a 15-track album “on his laptop”. And, based on the two singles out at the time of writing this, it sounds like, at the very least, karaoke night’s about to get an upgrade. On the dancehall-y “I Don’t Care”, Sheeran and homeboy Justin Bieber muse on social anxiety with gay abandon, while “Cross Me” has fellow best human Chance the Rapper (and PnB Rock) delivering a catchy refrain about defending their ladies’ honour. Just more proof that nice guys don’t always finish last. July 12 Ed Sheeran
SPELLBINDER (1988) JA N E T G R E E K
A thriller involving a lovestruck man, a Satanic cult and a young Kelly Preston, Spellbinder “plays with your mind.”
CHILD’S PLAY (1988) T O M H O LL A N D
Chucky the evil doll is another in a series of inanimate objects that continue to haunt us: Expect a remake in theatres this year.
THE OTHERS (2001) ALE JANDRO AMENABAR
A pillar of the genre, this Nicole Kidmanstarrer threw in a couple kids in a Victorian-era mansion and an epic twist.
VIBE
WALK THIS WAY A foot-stomping music festival to keep you lit in a Serbian summer
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his month’s EXIT Festival, happening inside Novi Sad’s 18thcentury Petrovaradin Fortress, could be your cue to explore Europe’s Balkan peninsula. The festival itself is a wholesome showcase of the world’s best rock, punk, hip-hop and electronica over a whopping 40 stages inside the fort’s moats, trenches and tunnels. Once you’re done vibing to the beats of modern-day luminaries like Carl Cox, The Cure, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Greta Van Fleet, head out to explore the museums, cafés and Soviet architecture of the Serbian city. And then perhaps hitch-hike to Montenegro or Croatia for a tryst with nature; or choose between Sarajevo and Beirut to witness an unexpectedly booming nightlife on either side of the Sea of Marmara. July 4-7
GAMES
THE ART OF WAR
In Fódlan, you’re the master of your own destiny
ART
AT HOME IN THE WORLD
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A new dock for Indian art in Dubai hosts a show about a mobile world
he inaugural show at the new Ishara Art Foundation in Alserkal Avenue, titled Altered Inheritances: Home Is A Foreign Place, is a conversation between contemporary artist Shilpa Gupta and the Aligarh-born, US-based Zarina. It includes 36 monochrome woodcuts inscribed with “triggers for memory” and a video by Sophie Ernst in which Zarina recalls the experience of leaving India in 1947. You’ll likely gain new perspectives on the ever-resonant issue of migration in a world with ever-harder borders. Till July 13 Image: Shilpa Gupta; Details from Altered Inheritances - 100 (Last Name) Stories, 2014; Prabhakar Collection, Dubai
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till grieving over the rash climax to Game Of Thrones? Perhaps you can find some solace in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the 16th RPG title from the nearly 30-year-old Japanese franchise. You play a professor stationed at the Church of Seiros in Fódlan, tasked with training kids from three “houses” in combat. You will have visions of a mysterious girl called Sothis; and since this is Fire Emblem, there are bound to be dragons hiding somewhere. July 26 on Nintendo Switch
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GALLERIA CONTINUA, SAN GIMIGNANO/BEIJING/LES MOULINS/HABANA. ARTWORK PHOTO BY ELA BIALKOWSKA (SHILPA GUPTA)
FESTIVAL
VIBE FILM
URBAN LEGENDS Old stories get the Hollywood treatment in this month’s star-powered cinema
THEATRE
KUNG FU DANCING
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD D IR EC TE D BY Q U E NTIN TA R A NTIN O
The murder of American actress Sharon Tate in 1969 at the hands of the Manson Family was a shocking event – and is now the core of Tarantino’s new film that, the American director says, is actually about the “final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.” As such, the story follows TV actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as they try to make it in the changing industry, and life, as Tate’s (Margot Robbie) neighbour. July 26
THE LION KING D IR EC TE D BY J O N FAV R E AU
In the latest among Disney’s rush of live-action remakes of beloved classics (including Aladdin and Dumbo earlier this year), Favreau returns to navigating the wild: An all-star cast, including Donald Glover, James Earl Jones and Beyoncé, bring Simba’s story alive, in conjunction with some virtual reality. Yes, there’s a new “Hakuna Matata” for you and your kids to get into. July 19 54 —
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Should you find yourself in New York this month, mark out some time to visit the hip and happening new cultural centre, The Shed, located in the Bloomberg Building. Not only has the architecture been the talk of the town lately (Google “McCourt”), its programming also lives up to the mission of greater flexibility in access to arts. Take, for instance, the ongoing dance drama, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, which tells the story of a twin brother and sister at the heart of a secret sect in Queens that possesses the power to extend human life, and their struggle to control it. Marrying martial arts combat with balletic dance sequences, this original production has rare wattage powering it: It’s directed by the famous Chen Shi-Zheng; written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the hands behind Kung Fu Panda; choreographed by British contemporary dance pioneer Akram Khan; and features songs by Sia (remixed by The Haxan Cloak and Arca). Unmissable is an understatement. On till July 27
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: IWAN BAAN/COURTESY THE SHED
At The Shed, NYC’s hot new address for art and creativity
PROMOTION
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO NAS Celebrating 25 years of one of rap’s most seminal albums, Illmatic W RIT TEN BY LINDSAY PEREIR A
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Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai loomed large in India’s consciousness back in the summer of 1994. The former was crowned Miss Universe that year, while the latter took home the title of Miss World. For me, both events faded in comparison to the suicide of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, whose passing shook me like the death of someone particularly close. This doesn’t make sense now, in hindsight, but felt normal at the time because, as teenagers, we tend to give our heroes a lot more importance than our family members. A lot of us back then, a captive audience in the dawn of satellite television after economic liberalisation finally came to India, seemed to have singers, musicians and bands as personal heroes. Movie stars from Hollywood were as big as they are today, but we couldn’t track their lives on an hourly basis the way Instagram now encourages us to. Instead, some of us used our free time to minutely pore over albums and try to make sense of individual songs in a manner that short attention spans have now rendered obsolete. In April that year, the American rapper Nas (presumably shortened because Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones wouldn’t fit on cassette covers) dropped his debut studio album, Illmatic. It was introduced on MTV India via a music video for the last track, “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”, and promptly dropped out of heavy rotation a few weeks later. There were bigger releases and events occupying MTV’s attention at the time, given that Roxette had released Crash! Boom! Bang!, rapper Warren G had made a bigger splash with his debut Regulate...G Funk Era, Blur had effectively kicked off Britpop with Parklife, Green Day had turned into stars overnight with Dookie and Michael Jackson had married Lisa Marie Presley. Illmatic could easily have faded away like so many rap albums of its era that were almost wilfully entrenched in their geography and milieu. Slowly, and almost inexplicably, however, it started to gain momentum. By the end of that decade, it had achieved platinum status in America. There was no similar groundswell in India, of course, because a movie like Gully Boy (which Nas executive produced) was still decades away from conception. But Nas still managed to make an impact among those who dutifully tuned into the show Yo! MTV Raps. Twenty-five years after its appearance, Illmatic routinely tops lists of the greatest and most influential hip-hop albums of all time. There were early whispers of greatness within the rap community, even if they weren’t obvious to listeners like me on the other side of the planet. As a young rapper, Nas was sometimes referred to as the new Rakim, a huge honour given that the MC has long been celebrated as one of the most skilful writers to wield a microphone. As reviews of Illmatic started to trickle in, there were repeated references to his disavowal of gimmicks, the refreshing absence of cliché and the power of what some
critics called “poetic realism”. Serious praise for someone who had just turned 21. The opening of “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” – the first taste of Nas for thousands of people who didn’t immediately purchase the album – is strongly representative of his style, which is probably why it was made into a music video. “It ain’t hard to tell, I excel, then prevail / The mic is contacted, I attract clientele…” Those two lines alone contain internal rhymes, examples of assonance and slant rhymes. They are an impressive marriage of relevance and skill, showcasing just what makes rap such a compelling art form, and why Nas’ flow is easy to identify but hard to replicate. When I eventually did get around to listening to the album in its entirety, one of the things that stood out, almost at once, was the sound. This was a period when heavy bass and rock samples were routinely used as the bedrock for rappers to rhyme over. Nas, on the other hand, seemed to favour what sounded suspiciously like piano and avant-garde jazz. I didn’t recognise any of the samples he used, which was great because it pushed me, and others like me, into all kinds of directions as we searched for the origins of those tunes. For those who did understand them, it made for a more profound listening experience – which is how Illmatic managed to attract African-Americans as well as suburban Bombayites who cared enough to listen. It was also a welcome change from the gangsta rap that would eventually define that decade and overwhelm it, creating superstars in the process while simultaneously tainting the movement and reducing it to the simplistic braggadocio so many of us still mistake it for. What Nas was consciously doing is what pioneers across genres of music have always striven for, and only sometimes succeeded at: He was going against the grain in an attempt to break the mould. Nas’ last major appearance was in 2018, on his selftitled album, produced by Kanye West. Its second track, “Cops Shot The Kid”, gets its name from the recurring sample of a song called “Children Story” by Slick Rick. “White kids are brought in alive,” he raps, “Black kids get hit with like five.” In that pithy couplet, he encapsulates the rage that launched the Black Lives Matter movement. Much of what Nas has been saying on his 11 studio albums covers themes such as urban poverty, inner city violence and the damage inflicted by gang rivalries. The recent murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle, on the opposite coast from where Nas grew up, shows that little has changed on the ground. That Nas’ arguments are still valid a quarter of a century later can be depressing to think about, but credit to him for constantly finding new ways of putting his ideas across. The message itself may be worn out, but the messenger is potent. I can still listen to Illmatic and stumble upon something new every once in a while. The sounds are still fresh, the words still compelling. In an age of streaming singles and music that dates within a week, there just aren’t many albums one can say that about. Lindsay Pereira is a regular contributor to GQ India. He is currently listening to classic hip-hop on loop and waiting for new music from Kanye West. You can follow him at @lindsaypereira on Twitter
JULY 2019
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Abhijay Negi aka Encore ABJ (left) and Siddhant Sharma aka DJ Calm (right) are the duo behind Seedhe Maut
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Hot
For the last decade or so, the story of Indian rap has been synonymous with Mumbai-based gully rap. But that’s set to change with Seedhe Maut. Bhanuj Kappal meets the firebrand duo from Delhi making music for Gen Z (and anyone else who’ll listen)
e u c Sa PHOTOGRAPHED BY ABHISHEK BALI
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ro, yeh toh full BT ho gayi (Bro, this is a full bad trip),” declares Siddhant Sharma, aka MC Calm, his eyes affixed to the TV screen in my living room as he pours himself a generous glass of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. In the corner, Abhijay Negi (nom-de-rhyme: Encore ABJ) is rolling joints like his life depends on it. He picked up 15 grams of weed from a friend the day before, and he’s on a mission to finish it before the two get on a flight back to Delhi later that evening. It’s May 23, election results day, and the boys from Seedhe Maut have stopped over at my suburban Mumbai flat on the way to the airport. We’re supposed to be doing a second round of interviews, following up on our conversation in Delhi a couple of weeks earlier. Instead, we spend the evening getting wasted and watching the ruling party’s triumphant return to power. “We laugh at the US for electing Donald Trump,” says Sharma, in a resigned voice. “But look at us.” Admittedly, this isn’t the most erudite example of political commentary. The two young men – Sharma is nearly 23, Negi is 24 – don’t use the sort of political vocabulary and theory that’s in vogue
with the analysts on TV, or the “woke” twitterati. Terms like “caste calculus”, “regulatory capture” and “electoral bonds” are nowhere to be found. They haven’t yet been bloodied in the culture wars of online activism, with its radicaler-than-thou posturing and tendency towards blue-on-blue attacks. Instead, their response to the election result is a direct and heartfelt, “We’re fucked.” This same directness and emotional honesty also informs the duo’s music, which combines dark alttrap beats with introspective lyricism and exuberant wordplay. In the two years since they signed to Delhi rap label Azadi Records, Seedhe Maut have become one of the most talked-about new acts in Indian hip-hop, Delhi’s icons-in-waiting, all set to take over from the Mumbai rappers who currently run the rap underground. Recent sets at BudX and Bira91’s April Fools’ Fest saw them upstage much bigger acts on the lineup, with hundreds of fans singing along to their tracks. They’ve got a collaboration with UK rap/electronica biggies Foreign Beggars in the pipeline, and they’re also going to star in their own documentary very soon. They even had a major political party offer them `25 lakh to do a song for the election campaign (they refused). 59
Producer Sez On The Beat
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Part of the buzz around them is thanks to their explosive live shows. At Azadi Records’ second-anniversary celebration at Mumbai’s Khar Social earlier this year, the opening bars of Seedhe Maut’s first track hit the crowd like a tsunami, igniting a mosh pit that sent bodies flying across the floor like billiard balls. But this is just one piece of the puzzle. In fact, Seedhe Maut’s secret sauce is their unique dynamic: Two young friends finding their way in a world gone awry. On Bayaan, their critically acclaimed nine-track debut album, Sharma and Negi channel the angst and frustration of middle India’s Gen Z as they confront an adulthood more complicated than they expected. This generation has inherited a country that is no longer the India from their civics textbooks. Today’s young adults are navigating new rules of romance in the age of sexting and #MeToo, trying to unlearn toxic masculinity without the help of a gender studies education. They’re faced with the task of handling an impending environmental crisis that their “elders” seem to have no interest in fixing. All that, on top of the familiar conundrum of middle-class kids everywhere – whether to follow the safe, scripted path through life that their parents have planned for them, or to risk conflict and failure by setting off on their own. Seedhe Maut’s music and lyrics speak to these anxieties in a way neither mainstream mass culture nor gully rap do. Perhaps that explains their incredibly dedicated fanbase: 14-year-old boys who send them beats and religiously follow their videogame live streams on YouTube; teenage girls at gigs who cry when they play romantic ballad “Gehraiyaan” and wait hours at the gate to meet them, only to cry again. There are even a couple of guys who religiously follow them on tour, regularly popping up in the duo’s Instagram Stories from shows all over the country.
“They’re two boys just trying to be themselves when other aspiring rappers here are trying so hard to be ‘rappers’, if you know what I mean,” says Azadi co-founder Mo Joshi, on the phone from Chandigarh. “I think that’s why they have such an incredible connection with their fans.”
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ro, supplee lag gayi (Bro, I have to give a supplementary exam),” complains Negi, looking up from a textbook as I walk into the bedroom of Sharma’s Tilak Nagar bachelor pad a couple of weeks earlier. A huge Seedhe Maut poster takes up most of the wall behind him, while Manchester United merch and a couple of framed CD covers – Bayaan and their debut mixtape 2 Ka Pahada – make up the rest of the decor. One corner, with a desk and a computer, is the duo’s combined home studio and gaming den. In between our interview and a recording session for a track on label mate Tienas’ upcoming album, Negi is trying to cram subjects like advanced mathematics and coastal engineering so he can finally get his civic engineering degree, six years in. Sharma, on the other hand, is taking much pleasure in his friend’s misfortune. “He’s going to put this in the article,” he cackles. “There goes your street cred.” More than anything, Seedhe Maut are like an odd couple from a sitcom. The older, quieter Negi is an introvert whose idea of a good time is just chilling at home with a spliff. He doesn’t drink much, and used to hate nightclubs before he met Sharma. With his gaunt face and kohl-tinged eyes, he radiates a quiet, brooding intensity. In contrast, Sharma is an ebullient extrovert who starts every other sentence with Delhi’s signature elongated “Brooooo”. Sharma goes through life with a joie de vivre that’s infectious, greeting every new development with multiple-exclamation-marks excitement. Never seen without his oversized square specs, he’s the life of every after-party. “It works out great, because Calm can go out and mingle with people easily, do the networking,” says Negi. “That really helped us get gigs and stuff, especially in the early days.” They’ll often complete each other’s sentences. During interviews, you sometimes feel like a third wheel – they can keep a conversation going for hours with little more than a few encouraging nods from your end, jumping from tangent to tangent. They don’t deploy the filters usually used by artists when speaking to the press, either. A question about their latest live show can lead to anything from anecdotes about meeting Ranveer Singh at the GQ Style & Culture Awards in March this year (“He had a speaker playing “Apna Time
Their nine track debut album, Bayaan, is a recor d that seethes with barely restraine d rage and revels in its dest ructive impact Aayega” in his pocket as he walked in, abhi tak film promotion chal rahi hai bhai”) to gentle ribbing about each other’s romantic escapades. The two met three years ago, at the first rap cypher organised by Spit Dope Inc, a Delhi battle rap platform founded by Negi and fellow Delhi MCs Kode, Abxom and Snub. Negi was already a familiar face at jams and cyphers at the time. Hailing from unfashionable East Delhi – or Jamnapaar – the Eminem and Big L fan had started off rapping in English, like many of his contemporaries, but quickly transitioned to raw, combative Hindi rap. He and Sharma, the rebellious son of two school principals, hit it off instantly. They decided to write together as a multilingual duo – Negi rapping in Hindi and Sharma in English – and Seedhe Maut was born. The name came from a phrase Sharma’s brother loved to use, a Delhi analogue of London
grime’s “sick”. “It basically implies that you have to give it your all in anything you do,” says Sharma. “It’s quite dark and sharp, and that’s how we wanted our sound to be. Always aggressive, in your face. No half measures, just seedhe maut.” Once they started writing songs together, it quickly became apparent that this creative partnership was bigger than the sum of its two parts. Negi wields his voice like a scalpel, his Hindi lyrics showcasing a mastery of alliteration and metaphor that rivals that of Mumbai gully rap pioneer Naezy. He draws from the same well of inspiration as Sahir Ludhianvi and other Hindustani lyricists of Golden Age Bollywood, with their subtle interplay of pathos and clever wordplay. Sharma’s writing is more direct, but what he lacks in lexical dexterity, he more than makes up for with his relentless flow and crushing delivery. He’s the virtuoso of the braggadocio verse, his voice dripping with contempt as he demolishes opponents in machine-gun staccato. The duo spent the latter half of 2016 putting together the songs for 2 Ka Pahada, which went on to make serious waves in the Indian rap underground, grabbing the attention of hip-hop heads all over the country. Within a month of the mixtape’s release, Azadi had signed them on for a record deal. Seedhe Maut had arrived.
Seedhe Maut’s live gigs are electric
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I Siddhant Sharma and Abhijay Negi (foreground)
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“It was a no-brainer really,” says Joshi, of the decision to bring the duo into the Azadi fold. “They were already creating music that had the potential to go beyond the hip-hop scene and appeal to a wider audience. That’s evident from the number of female fans that come to their gigs.” Along with the teens, the ageing rock scene cynics, celebrities and even a few parents, Seedhe Maut attract the most diverse audience you’ll see at a rap gig. Much of that has to do with the success of Bayaan. While 2 Ka Pahada was essentially a vehicle for the two rappers to show off their versatility and skills on the mic, Bayaan is a much more cohesive document of their lives and ambitions. Released on December 28 last year, the record didn’t get nearly as much press as it deserved because publications were busy putting out their end-of-year coverage. But it hit a nerve with kids who’d been primed for it by the hype being built around Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy. “There’s a new wave of rap fans who don’t want to listen to mainstream hip-hop any more, and I think we tapped into that,” says Sharma. “I don’t think they’ve ever heard music that uses the language they do when they’re just hanging out. In the same way that Naezy connected with people in Mumbai by using the slang and language of the streets, I think we represent the Delhi-wala style.” Unlike 2 Ka Pahada, which was written and recorded at a frenetic pace, Seedhe Maut spent most of 2018 getting Bayaan ready under the guidance of label mate Sez – who handled the production on the album – as well as the Azadi co-founders. Co-founder Uday Kapur even convinced Sharma to drop the English and rap in Hindi, a move that has worked well. But more than anything, Bayaan is the sound of two friends pushing each other to outdo themselves lyrically and vocally, and enjoying it thoroughly. They remind me of Run The Jewels, the two American rap alchemists who found a way to turn their personal chemistry into musical gold. In the case of Bayaan, the result is a record that seethes with barely restrained rage and revels in its destructive impact. Lead single “Shaktimaan”, a crowd favourite, is an ode to the power of the Indian everyman who oozes a self-assurance that borders on arrogance. Referencing the 1990s Indian superhero – along with Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Popeye and chole bhature – the track is propelled by Sez’s grimy fluteand-bass beat. The flute acts as a motif that runs throughout the album, as do the dense and plentiful Indian pop culture references. “Dehshat” is a sinister dose of North Indian aggression, the sonic version of a Delhi street
brawl. Braggadocio cut “Meri Baggi Mera Ghoda” takes the familiar bit of North Indian doggerel (“meri baggi mera ghoda, jo na naache bhen ka lauda”) and transforms it into a down and dirty club banger. But there are also more introspective and reflective moments on the album, and it is these that seem to inspire the most devotion from their Gen Z and female fanbase. The poignant “Gehraiyaan” starts with a recording of a young girl speaking on the phone with a friend about sneaking out to catch a Seedhe Maut show – not the sort of demographic you see represented on the average Indian rap record. The track itself is a surprisingly tender portrayal of young love, and the self-flagellation that follows your first real break-up. The song is also a subtle “fuck you” to the idea of fuckboy masculinity, though it’s delivered from a point of empathy rather than judgment. And then there’s the flute-driven “PNP” (Paisa Nasha Pyaar), a song that blends personal heartbreak, social ills and political commentary into a ringing indictment of contemporary India. These aren’t necessarily the themes that dominate Indian underground rap, which has taken the narratives of the “struggle” and the “gully” to heart. Negi and Sharma are not shining a light on Delhi’s seamy underbelly, or speaking for the subaltern and the marginalised. Though they touch on these issues frequently, Seedhe Maut are primarily concerned with the more universal difficulties of being a young person in contemporary India. They’re more interested in mining the one vein in global popular music that never runs dry: teenage angst. Until now, India’s never really had a big teenage angst moment in popular music, aside from the odd soundtrack cuts from a cult Bollywood film (Rockford, Udaan). Outside of elite urban bubbles, Indian teens were thought of as either overgrown children or adults-inwaiting. But India today has over 600 million people under the age of 25 – more than half the country’s population – and a large chunk have more access to global culture and disposable income than ever before. They know their aspirations and struggles will define the country’s future. The album ends with the uplifting and empowering “Chalta Reh”, all the anger and sadness of the preceding songs now transmuted into an ironclad resolve. Your parents may not let you go out on dates or choose a creative career, your friends may stab you in the back the first chance they get, the music industry and the world at large may scoff at your ambition to do things the right way. But, Seedhe Maut seem to be saying, that’s all background noise. “Jaane de,” they tell you. “Chalta reh.”
They remind me of Run The Jewels, the two American rap alchemists who found a way to turn their personal chemistry into musical gold
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WHAT’S THE BREWHAHA ABOUT? Produced in the verdant Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh and sold in cafés across Paris, Araku Coffee is the latest entrant to India’s growing third wave coffee scene. Arun Janardhan sits down with co-founder and director Manoj Kumar for a cup of the brew that’s as complex as making a Birkin bag 64 —
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IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (VALLEY)
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anoj Kumar doesn’t have OCD, but when he sees things out of place – a tilted photo frame, for example – it bothers him a bit. Part of it can be explained by his passion for design and aesthetics. Or it could be because of his mathematical bent of mind, which means he prefers symmetry and order. Besides this, Kumar has a photographic memory and the ability to analyse body language; can speak and understand all four major South Indian languages; spends almost every week of the month in a different city; is an Akira Kurosawa fan; and, if his past could be extrapolated a little, could well have been an Indian version of James Bond. Only, you would have to replace the shaken martini with a coffee, because Kumar loves the brew. Even if he drinks only two cups a day – occasionally three, if dinner involves fine wine – he can talk about it for hours, and then some. The 50-year-old managing director of Naandi Foundation, which runs Araku Coffee, of which he is the co-founder and director, has a worthy story to tell. It’s a tale of a former banker, economist and counterintelligence operative who went off into the Naxal-influenced forests of Andhra Pradesh to encourage resident adivasis to grow coffee that now retails across France. The tale of an organically grown crop, a cooperatively run business and a shared economy among thousands of people. Seated in his cosy cabin in Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd’s Mumbai office – Anand Mahindra is on the board of Naandi – Kumar does not give the impression of being a tough negotiator, but that of a gentle, persuasive mediator who meandered into the social sector. Having done stints with banks and
ARAKU VALLEY
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Naandi Foundation’s Manoj Kumar is the man behind the award-winning Araku Coffee
in microfinancing, he was wooed by Naandi Foundation in 2000. He started working on a few major projects, like overseeing midday meals (in five states) and revitalising irrigation schemes (in Andhra Pradesh) – the latter allowing him to convince the people he interacted with to take an enterprise instead of a subsidy approach. When Naandi became keen to set up social entrepreneurships, the Araku Valley was a name that came up often. “We always knew, from day one, that we needed a legacy project,” says Kumar. In Araku, amid scenic silver oak trees and black pepper plants, he saw poverty and a people whose lives were a far cry from the urban idea of modern civilisation. The locals were still hunters and foragers, dressed in loincloths, with limited access to schools and health services. The Naandi team wanted to improve the residents’ livelihoods and ultimately settled on coffee, based on the locals’ recommendations. What started with about a thousand farmers, a core team of three to four people – including agriculture and biodynamic expert David Hogg – has transformed over a decade-and-ahalf into a project involving 1,00,000 adivasis today. “David already knew about biodynamic farming and I literally kidnapped him for this,” says Kumar, laughing. Through the years, there have been continuous cultural negotiations with the farmers. One such was building temporary stone walls to separate farms and properties for quality control because the locals had no concept of, or need for, boundaries. “You have to think of bringing out the profit enterprise of the individual, which is the ethos of capitalism, but not at the trade-off of socialist principles of sharing,” explains the former economist, who has a professorial style of speaking, enunciating each syllable. As cups of Araku’s signature blend arrive at our table, Kumar talks about cherries, red and ripened to perfection, which contain the bean. He elaborates on the few factors that go into a world-class coffee, such as the way the estate is looked after. “In the rest of India, coffee is an extra accessory in a rich man’s asset portfolio. It’s not somebody’s livelihood. It’s mass – even smaller estates are 40 to 50 acres. There is no one-acre estate like ours.”
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n Araku’s farms, there are strict processes: A farmer tends to each plant, stem and cherry. The other feature that matters is structuring of the estate – how sunlight filters through shade, which gives a higher yield and makes a difference to the coffee’s acidity, how the water is absorbed, etc. In large estates harvested by machines, there would be two to three harvests in a coffee season, which goes JULY 2019
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from November to March. Araku’s is every other day. Across the world, the beans are blow-dried in two hours; Araku’s drying happens over two weeks in sunlight. “There is a raised platform so the earth’s smell does not touch the coffee. I measure moisture and sugar levels. This is like making a Birkin bag,” Kumar adds. With a growing production of what’s currently a hundred tonnes, a millionand-a-half additional coffee trees being planted every year and 25,000 acres under cultivation, Araku had to seek newer markets besides France, which is why the coffee is now available in India online. It started selling to Europe first because it felt that the quality of the coffee, best drunk black, would require a more sophisticated and refined palate. But a new wave of Indian coffee introduced over the last few years by brands such as Blue Tokai, Black Baza, The Indian Bean and Flying Squirrel, among others, has paved the way for Araku to brave local competition. Next up is a café in Bengaluru, and then maybe in Mumbai and Delhi, the three biggest markets for Araku. A roasting facility is already up and running in Hyderabad. And while it may not be his thing, Kumar believes espresso machines and biodegradable pods, which Araku sells, will catch on here. “If I had brought this coffee to India five years ago, I would have been dead as a brand,” he says. “Now, we will shake up the industry. I will disrupt wages, quality and training.” 66 —
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“IF I HAD BROUGHT THIS COFFEE TO INDIA FIVE YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD AS A BRAND,” KUMAR SAYS. “NOW, WE WILL SHAKE UP THE INDUSTRY. I WILL DISRUPT WAGES, QUALITY AND TRAINING”
He would prefer to do that while retaining his anonymity – he loves sitting in a coffee shop watching people, which he did in Bengaluru as part of his homework for the upcoming café. Having trained in counter-intelligence early in his career and worked at airports identifying potential troublemakers, he is a “dangerous” person to be around, according to friends, because he can be a good conversationalist, and can get information out of people. If he had stayed on as an operative, he would definitely have been a richer man, Kumar says, laughing. But Naandi’s nonprofit work roots him well – typically in a month, he spends a week in Mumbai, a week in Hyderabad, which is also home, and two weeks somewhere in India or Paris or a place with a coffee trend. His Araku (and French press) travels with him everywhere. It’s because – he repeats – it’s the best coffee. He believes taste depends on good olfactory senses: how well you’ve trained your nose, which, for him, is part gift, part skill acquired through practice. As he prepares for an upcoming board meeting, he also says his mind never stops working, contrary to the calm, unhurried impression he gives. Most of his thoughts seem to be occupied by the brew and the bean. Kumar also wants to develop a cold brew, as well as an Araku version of the South Indian filter coffee. “I also need to bring people back to the idea of the rituals of coffee – brew yourself, take a pause, pour and drink it,” he says, thoughtfully. “My challenge is to make this a lifestyle.”
GOODLIFE
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE Your home is all about setting the right tone. Lighting experts Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth are here to provide some illumination
What should one generally keep in mind when doing up a space? Prateek Jain: The first thing to look at is your budget. Set one aside for the whole exercise. Second, list the basic requirements: The number of bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, family spaces, etc. Third, focus on air, light and greenery, followed by the gadgets, appliances and technologies you want to integrate in your home. Then, move on to the look and feel. Preparing a mood board will help you design everything. How do you put together a budget for lighting? Jain: Lighting can be divided into two categories: architectural and decorative. Most of the illumination in a house should be determined by the former, while the latter should be more sculptural, and used only as focal points. Having too many pieces too close to each other loses impact, especially in a small space. Lighting can make or break a home, and most people address it only at the end of a project, whereas it should be among the first things to be considered. So, when budgeting for your space, do some proper research on lighting early on. 68 —
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What are the rules for selecting lights? Jain: The first is to know its purpose: Is it for decoration, or is it functional? Very rarely do we see a good design that does both. Second, don’t follow a trend blindly; embrace one that matches your aesthetic. How does your work fit within a minimalist aesthetic? Gautam Seth: When someone with this aesthetic approaches us for an installation, we suggest something that’s more form-based, with little or no embellishments. The contrast of the volume of the space to the piece also plays a role – but our work looks best in clean, simple spaces. And for someone with a maximalist aesthetic? How much is too much? Seth: The key is to harmonise. Synchronicity, when broken, starts to look jarring. The story and theme of the artefacts should always be in tandem. What design era are you drawn to? Seth: We love the Art Nouveau and Surrealist eras. What do you recommend for small spaces? Jain: We always suggest pieces that are more detailed and compact. Our candle-and-moth pendants and chandelier are a great example because they bring in drama and detail, as do our eagle totem lamps and the Freya table lamp. And for larger spaces? Seth: We’re definitely extremely biased towards our new collection, Totems Over Time. These limitededition wall installations are inspired by totems representing abundance, beauty, protection and vision. What are three tips for creating your own lighting? Seth: Pick three materials for the shade (paper, stone, metal mesh), buy two to three different types of bulbs (Tungsten, incandescent, fairy lights). Then, experiment.
INTERVIEW: JEENA J BILLIMORIA
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our home is an extension of your personality. You know that. With the explosion of designers and products, it’s never been easier to express yourself. You know that too. Yet, while most emphasise furniture and colours, not enough attention is given to lighting, which can drastically alter a space. Few brands in the country manage to hit the sweet spot with lighting that’s as creative as it is functional, but Klove is up there on the list. Since its launch in 2005, it’s won a string of awards, collaborated with Arttd’inox, Paul Smith and Hendrick’s Gin, as well as the country’s slickest interior designers, and made appearances at exhibitions and trade shows across the globe. Which would make co-founders Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth the best guys to shed some light on the topic.
"LIGHTING CAN MAKE OR BREAK A HOME, SO IT SHOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED"
(Left) Gautam Seth and Prateek Jain; (Above) Installations from Klove’s Totems Over Time collection
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TASTE ALL THAT MATTERS THIS MONTH
HOTEL
THE OBEROI BEACH RESORT | Lombok, Indonesia
BALI SE A
BALI LOMBOK
INDIAN OCE AN
RESTAURANT
ITC ROYAL BENGAL | Kolkata
The baronial ITC Royal Bengal’s on our radar right now – and not just because it promises some truly stunning views. Jazz bar The Brass Room is rife with that oldworld charm Kolkata is associated with – ideal for your end-of-day whisky-cigar routine. Meanwhile, vegetarians will find their Mecca in the Royal Vega. Keep an eye out for the “Sheherwali” menu, the royal cuisine of Murshidabad. If neither is your speed, there’s also buffet restaurant Grand Market Pavilion and tea room Darjeeling Lounge to choose from. itchotels.in
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA. IMAGE: OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS (THE OBEROI BEACH RESORT LOMBOK), AMANKORA BHUTAN (AMANKORA POPPY TREK)
There’s nothing more luxurious than being surrounded by a literal sea of fresh azure. The newly restored Oberoi Lombok has all the makings of an idyllic getaway, from grand villas replete with private pools and ocean or garden views to restaurants that meld local and international cuisine with finesse. Between diving into its infinity pool and getting stress-melting Balinese massages, you may not even want to wander beyond the grounds your whole trip. oberoihotels.com
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DRAGONFLY EXPERIENCE | Delhi
Smack dab in the middle of Worldmark 1, Aerocity, easily one of the biggest up-and-coming locations in the city this year, Dragonfly Experience is definitely that – an experience. While the food and cocktails are interesting (the Carbonara Dimsums and the Activated Charcoal Tempura Prawns are eccentric but delicious, and the Old Fashioned is an absolute must-have), it’s the vibe we’re into most: a large space, even by Delhi’s generous standards, it’s ideal for a book-it-out-and-pack-the-house kind of party, with decor that’s anything but shy. Think looming dragonflies, neon backlit into brightness, partnered with mosaic mirror-work that’s likely to set the tone of your evening: chilled out, with a side of Rosemary Martinis. 73037 59995, 73037 59996
EXPERIENCE
AMANKORA POPPY TREK | Punakha, Bhutan There’s no such thing as overkill when it comes to experiencing flowers in all their natural, 3D glory. In the months of June and July, the Poppy Treks at Amankora wind through the red, white and pink blossoms, which mark the start of the Bhutanese summer. You’ll spend two nights at the luxury resort’s Paro and Thimphu lodges, and another two to three in its state-of-theart furnished standing tents, complete with custom meals. It’s that godsend of a crossover between being at the epicentre of nature, but doing it in style. Not to mention the bonus prize of a seriously enviable Instagram feed. aman.com
PART Y IN THE SKY
VIRGIN ATLANTIC | Mumbai-London
This October will see the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s Mumbai-London route. The ten-hour-ten-minute journey promises to be a breeze, especially when you start it by sipping on champagne in a sleek cabin with the airline’s signature low-key rager lighting. Virgin’s Upper Class services have all the usual trappings of a world-class experience (think designer table settings and brilliant culinary collaborations), but what sets it apart is its Wander Wall: a casual bar where you can stretch your legs, grab a snack and aperitif, and maybe start up a fun conversation with a like-minded stranger. virginatlantic.com BOM
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FREE FLOW THE ARTS
Fifty years ago, Astad Deboo pioneered contemporary dance in India. Today, as in 1969, he remains a study in how to be a modern man who moves with the times W RIT TEN BY NIDHI GUPTA
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IMAGE: RITAM BANERJEE
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No one’s actually said it’s an intermission. But the dark and quiet inside the matchbox-sized auditorium has stretched long enough for someone to ask: “Can we have the lights on?” Astad Deboo, who at this moment is barely a silhouette slow-marching across the blue-tinted space, shoots back: “No. No music, no lights.” And then, magnanimously: “You have to get used to the darkness.” Forty-five minutes earlier, at the beginning of “A Dream Of Sunrise”, the septuagenarian contemporary dancer descended, at glacial pace, from a corner staircase at G5A, Mumbai. Dressed in a floor-length butterscotch anarkali, he paused after each step, stretching a leg high above his head, or an arm over the balustrade, bending front and back at the torso, his posture enviably correct at all times. He’d dance with his shadow, hands curling into all sorts of mudras, eyebrows bouncing like a Kathakali dancer’s. When the music sped up, Deboo began to twirl – not a pirouette, not quite a pivot, but he went five, ten, 25 times at once. The teenage girl fidgeting next to me paused, mesmerised. “Not everyone likes my work,” shrugs Deboo, when we meet weeks later, “but most seem amazed by the twirling.” We’re in the airy living room of his south Mumbai home, also a sparse work space where the only ornamentation is a wall of bric-a-brac, photo frames and a Nataraj statue. “That’s a signature move,” he continues, “from the Kathak tradition. People have said it looked a bit Sufi, but I haven’t been inspired by Sufism.” A dancer, as a man, at his age: These are also the things that amaze people about Astad Deboo, even if they do overestimate his age all the time. Deboo’s life has revolved around dance and the stage, ever since he began to train in Kathak at age six in Jamshedpur. It might’ve started as a casual interest, but two events in 1968 set him permanently on this course. First, he watched the famous Murray Louis Dance Company on tour in India. “I was fascinated. That very different sort of lighting, these dancers in unison, the way they used space. It was all very unlike what I’d seen in Indian classical dance.” Second, he listened, fascinated, to the stories of a friend who’d hitch-hiked across Europe. So, once he’d graduated from RA Podar College in Mumbai, he announced to his family that he’d been given a spot at the reputed Martha Graham Dance Company in the US; and that, before he went there, he’d like to commence his own spell of hitch-hiking. What convinced them was the fib he told about a non-existent scholarship.
LET’S DO THINGS RIGHT
“So I left on a cargo boat loaded up with cattle and labourers bound for the Gulf,” he grins. “I got off at Khorramshahr in Iran, and from there, with my magic thumb, I hitched for two-and-a-half months, all the way up to England.” He gazed upon the Colosseum, he sunned in Capri, he crossed Checkpoint Charlie in 1969. He also met an Iranian pop singer, who got him a paid gig to perform Kathak for a Tehran-based TV channel. He met a pair of Australian girls with whom he travelled to Greece, who’d call him in the early 1970s to present his work at a fundraiser for leprosy patients, in collaboration with Pink Floyd, who’d just then released Meddle. Eventually, hitch-hiking gave way to travelling for craft, or an early-days version of voluntourism. “My modus operandi,” Deboo explains, “was to land up in a city, contact the Indian student union at the local university and say, ‘Look, I’m a classically trained dancer, perhaps I can teach you?’” This is how Deboo built his “movement bank”. When it became clear he wasn’t going to make it to the US, he joined The Place in London, a school of contemporary dance, to learn the Martha Graham technique. “This was all about contract and release, even when you’re on the floor,” Deboo explains, “For me, dance was always a more fluid thing, and this felt very rigid.” In Indonesia, he studied the traditional Javanese dance; In Japan, he learned kabuki and butoh while he “taught English, became a fashion model and a host in a women’s underground bar”; then returned to India to learn “two Kathakali pieces” under Guru EK Panikar. “My body kept moving, either on the road or in dance.” Everywhere he went, he made friends and expanded his network. It was in Mexico that Deboo realised his signature move. “I was a regular at discotheques and one night, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” was on, and I just began to spin.” At another point in his life, after spending a year with the Pina Bausch Dance Repertoire – “when the high priestess of modern dance calls you herself, it’s a huge honour” – he was convinced he didn’t want to be boxed in as “just a Kathakali dancer”. In 1988, a decade after he’d had his debut India show at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, Deboo began to work with the disadvantaged: With a theatre
"There is an Indian flavour to my movements, and while it is always individualistic, it has to always be present" JULY 2019
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company called Action Players in Kolkata, he started training deaf kids. (“It used to be politically correct to call them hearing-impaired, but we’re back to deaf now,” he says, as an aside.) “When I’m teaching a class, the first thing everybody has to learn is to count simultaneously,” Deboo says. “Synchronisation is extremely important, then trust and learning to work with spaces.” His work with the deaf has expanded to include a school in Chennai and one in Mumbai. He’s also built a relationship with the largest American school for the deaf, and taken “my young ones” on tour there. He recalls a performance by the deaf Bharatnatyam dancers of the Chennai school in 1990, to music composed by jazz guitarist Amit Heri. “Towards the end, I’d turn off the music – and then the audience would get it. That this is the ‘sound’ that these kids on stage are dancing to.” This is just part of how Deboo keeps himself “constantly challenged”. Right now, he’s working on a project with Korean and Carnatic musicians, as well as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a Korean theatre company, collaborating with Bharatnatyam dancers from the Chicago-based Natya Dance Company and “two boys I mentored while working with the Salaam Baalak Trust”. He insists on “keeping the technique undiluted” through all this fusion. We’re meeting in a sliver of time he’s got to spend in Mumbai, right after he’s returned from Bhutan and before he gets into a very busy international tour schedule. To commemorate his 50th anniversary as a professional dancer, he says the city of Munich is keen on “paying homage to me.” For this, he’ll present “An 74 —
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Evening With Astad”, a nostalgia piece he’s developed with Swedish-Indian choreographer Rani Nair, with the hypothesis: What does your body remember? “Sure, I am an Indian dancer, my body is Indian, I started off with Indian classical technique and moved on,” Deboo analyses his oeuvre. “But my contemporariness is Indian in itself, because of its content: I may not take on the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, but I’ve created work on the life of a drug addict, for instance, or exploring the veena as an accompaniment. There is an Indian flavour to my movements, and while it is always individualistic, it has to always be present. “I’ve really had to cultivate my audience,” he continues. “They’ve usually been over the age of 40, erudite, curious individuals. My greatest challenge is that I’ve to keep on knocking at doors and marketing myself. But what’s wonderful is that now the younger generations come for the shows.” Does the thought of stopping ever cross his mind, when the likes of prolific British dancer Akram Khan have announced retirement at 40? “When you watched me at G5A, did you feel like this body should retire?” he demands to know. I quickly demur, and he follows it up with a story about the great Merce Cunningham, often called the father of modern dance. “When he was riddled with arthritis, at times we’d watch him go on stage like this.” He gets up and imitates an old, stiff body vibrating and stamping on the dance floor. “It was not a pleasant thing to experience. But then, when one is used to being up there, one has to be very wise to know when their body’s giving up.” He pauses. “I have to always listen to my body.”
IMAGE: RITAM BANERJEE
LET’S DO THINGS RIGHT
GQ’S GUIDE TO THE BEST WATCHES IN THE WORLD COMING UP IN THE AUGUST ISSUE For more information, contact gqindiaadsales@condenast.in
EDITED BY SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. PHOTO: ROHAN HANDE. STYLIST: SELMAN FAZIL. ASSISTANT STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY
STYLE
NEW ERA
OVER SHIRT, SHORTS, SNEAKERS, CROSSBODY BAG; ALL BY DIOR MEN, PRICES ON REQUEST
There was no doubt that Kim Jones was going to bring about a blitzkrieg of hypeworthy pieces at Dior Men. But it’s really his sophomore Pre-Fall 2019 collection that hits the jackpot. The instantly identifiable leopard print. The crossbody that’s made it onto every hypebeast’s torso. Futuristic high-tops. All of which, packed in together, give you the most lustworthy look of the season. JULY 2019
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S STYLE
T H E TA S T E M A K E R
BENGAL TIGER He’s the reserved, quiet designer who’s built an empire at the epicentre of the noisy excess of the Big Fat Indian Wedding. But Sabysachi Mukherjee is about to pivot in a direction you couldn’t have anticipated W RIT TEN BY PHYLLIDA JAY
introduction of wallets, sunglasses, shoes and belts, part of a broader push that will also include branded fragrances and cosmetics.
BHADRALOK ROOTS
IMAGE: NAINA.CO (RUNWAY)
F
or a city inundated with extravagant events, there was a remarkable crackle in the air on the eve of Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s much-awaited show. After all, it was India’s leading designer’s first presentation in four years, and one that would commemorate his 20 years in the business. The Moët flowed, the celebrities airkissed and thronged to be photographed. Sabyasachi’s power to draw big names into his universe was evident in the eclecticism of the front row: Mumbai’s leading citizens – from billionaire heiresses and Bollywood stars to top editors – sat crammed shoulder to shoulder. The show also marked his burgeoning collab with Christian Louboutin, who sat up front, flanked by Alia Bhatt and Natasha Poonawalla. The set was bathed in a haze of red light and smoke – otherworldly, surreal, creating the sensation of having left the reality outside. Once the show began, the clothes were mesmerising: a sharp departure from the wedding wear that’s marked the stratospheric rise of Sabyasachi’s brand over the last decade. “This was the most honest collection I’ve done because I didn’t do what was necessary to make money; I did what was necessary from an aesthetic point of view. I lost the plot a bit because the brand was at the consumer’s mercy; it became so huge overnight,” Sabyasachi says. “Now, I want to shrink the clothing part of my business and focus on other verticals. I want to shape the business so that I can sell less clothing, but produce exactly what I want.” The collection, titled Kashgaar Bazaar, was marked by fluid silhouettes that parlayed between Indian shapes and the codes of global streetwear. The mood was “nomadic, bohemian and gypsy”, inspired by travel, which the designer says is “the greatest luxury a man can afford today.” Men’s ensembles in monochromatic Toile de Jouy or richly embroidered fabrics were accessorised hypebeast style, with crossbody utility pouches emblazoned with the Sabyasachi logo of a Bengal tiger. It took off from some of his earliest work, and indicated a new direction for the brand, which includes plans to build a prêt line and a potential international expansion. Menswear forms 17 per cent of the Sabyasachi business, and the future holds a ready-to-wear line of shirts in printed cotton and silks, as well as the
Sabyasachi’s first menswear collection was part of his 2011 Lakmé Fashion Week show. It was notable for the family vignettes: models and children all dressed in his signature aesthetic. Sabya recalls how he wanted a particular kind of man for the show, but the models provided by the event lacked the requisite ruggedness. He says they looked “like boys,” and “women don’t want to marry boys, they want to marry men.” His vision of the manly Indian groom meant that beard wigs were made for the show. This look, he says, has since inspired many a Sabyasachi bride-to-be to persuade her man to grow a beard for the big day. “I wanted to create one iconic image, of a man from India. For me, that’s a man with a Sarpech turban, a flowing beard, a shawl…” For him, the iconography was all about Rabindranath Tagore. Sabya himself sported long hair and a Tagore-esque beard for a while, circa 2013, when his NDTV hit show Band Baaja Bride was taking off. Back then, when it seemed the North Indian wedding, with its Yash Chopra-fuelled vision of the bride in dazzling gold and red, couldn’t get any more dominant, along came Sabyasachi, offering an alternative point of view on invented tradition, taking his cues from Kolkata and the fabled Bhadralok gentry. “When you live in Kolkata, you’re surrounded by textiles, food, music, architecture,” he says. “People here are not born intellectuals, they’re made intellectuals by peer pressure! Sometimes it’s almost caricaturish how arrogant Bengalis are. The pseudo-Kolkata is intellectual; the real Kolkata is wise. I would rather be perceived as someone with wisdom than as an intellectual.” There’s little doubt that Sabya is wise, and then some; he’s also been called a marketing maestro. Translating the refined culture of the Bhadralok for a market defined by social transformation and the one-upmanship of new versus old money is nothing short of a checkmate move. He’s taken all of Kolkata’s associations with intellectual ferment, and high art heritage, and distilled them into a set of mesmerising, highly aspirational visual codes, mediated through iconic campaign imagery.
THE PEACOCK GROOM
“Do you know why Facebook became so successful?” Sabya asks. “It’s because Mark Zuckerberg realised that all human beings are either voyeurs or exhibitionists.” Whether families, tribes or Insta squads, the cohesiveness provided by matching bridal party looks has become a crucial part of the Big Fat Wedding. So too has the coordinated bride-and-groom look seen at the weddings of Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh and, most recently, heiress Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal. Around 95 per cent of his clients, Sabya says, want a coordinated look. “For many people, the image is more important than the [wedding] ceremony, or anything JULY 2019
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STYLE Details from Sabysachi’s Kashgaar Bazaar collection, which featured the designer’s passion for richly layered embroidery and fluid silhouettes that referenced the codes of global streetwear
else. They want to be dressed up in Sabyasachi, and want that one photo for their WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook profiles.” Meeta Ghose, Head of Jewellery at Sabyasachi, has known the designer since he was a reserved, poetryloving 14-year-old. She recalls how difficult it was to get him to embrace Instagram. Then one day, while sitting in a traffic jam, she persuaded him to take a look on his phone. He viewed the app, and exclaimed with endearing paisa vasool logic, “It’s free!” According to a recent profile in Business Of Fashion, the brand now does 40 per cent of its business through the social media platform.
THE MAN HIMSELF
THE MODERN SABYASACHI MAN & LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES
Given the sumptuousness of his house, his passion for textiles and decorative arts and the new direction represented by the Kashgaar Bazaar show, with its louche silhouettes and layered embroidery, it comes as no surprise that Sabya cites 19th-century aesthete, dandy and celebrated author Oscar Wilde as most completely embodying the idea of the Sabyasachi man. Wilde is his favourite author, “because he made the boundaries of masculinity limitless.” His other artistic heroes include: “Leonard Cohen, whose music embodies the depth, gravitas and a certain sense of classicism, which is really what modernity is about. And Jared Leto: He’s fiercely unapologetic about embracing both his masculine and his feminine side, and today when gender fluidity is such an important topic of conversation, he represents the essence of the modern man beautifully.”
IMAGE: CHE KURRIEN (MODELS, INTERIOR)
"THIS WAS MY most HONEST COLLECTION BECAUSE I DIDN’T DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE MONEY, BUT WHAT WAS NECESSARY FROM AN AESTHETIC POINT OF VIEW"
Sabya acknowledges that he’s an introvert, and his close friends say he’s not interested in endless socialising or parties. He likes meaningful, one-onone conversations, where he can happily hold forth for hours on an infinite range of subjects; after all, the tradition of the Bengali adda is in his blood. At his 19th-century mansion in Kolkata’s leafy Alipore, evenings will see his team gather over platefuls of wholesome maccher jhol and bati chorchori, followed by homemade coconut cake with dark chocolate sauce in an informal dining setting. A silky, golden pack of beloved cocker spaniels, called Richard, George and Raghu (Richard has the most outgoing personality), mill around, adding to the homely, relaxed atmosphere. Like his clothes, Sabya’s home balances opulent excess with a cohesive aesthetic. Think an aesthete’s bachelor pad. Bars are a source of inspiration: leather Chesterfield sofas, footstools accented with coverings made from exquisite, antique Kantha textiles, teak panelled ceilings, piles of books, paintings, antiquities, engraved mirrors and chandeliers that rival anything owned by maharajas of yore. Again, his unique ability to draw on a wide mix of influences and materials, and filter it seamlessly through a sepia-toned lens of nostalgia, is evident. This may be a private home, but it’s undoubtedly the inspiration for a boutique hotel, part of a larger, grand vision.
STYLE
FOOT THE EDIT
A L
r ou y n i s r e k or w t s e d r T he ha ome super-cushioned wardrobe now uc ltra-light for and e c n a m or rf e p g n i k a record-bre 82 —
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Five longdistance running trainers that are miles better than the rest, before you swap out for luxe-as-hell downtime slides FROM TOP: SNEAKERS BY NIKE, UNDER ARMOUR, NEW BALANCE, ADIDAS, ASICS
PHOTO: JOHN GRIBBEN
L
GQ PROMOTION
THE NEW GLOBAL LOCAL KURTEES – a new Singaporedesigned menswear label by Steven Jhangiani – just made its global debut via its online platform. And it’s already spearheading an all-new trend that bridges the traditional and the contemporary to make your life easy and stylish
The style-conscious, comfort-seeking Indian man owns two things in plenty – T-shirts and kurtas. While the latter is reserved for traditional occasions, the former often finds its way into the everyday. But KURTEES – an all-new fashion label for men – combines the airy, diaphanous cut of the kurta and the casual familiarity of the T-shirt to give you the best of both worlds. And we believe that with its new online store, this trendsetting brand is all set to take the world by storm. Not overtly traditional and yet ‘ethnic.ish’, each piece from the label’s debut collection can be worn in Delhi as well as in New York. Better still, their all-weather fashion statements are crafted from 100 per cent organic cotton jersey fabric, which is certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard. This certification ensures that all operational and social responsibilities are met throughout the supply chain, from raw materials
to the end product, making these garments extremely comfortable, skin-friendly and ecologically sound. Taking you from a Casual Friday to a Sunday Brunch and everywhere in between, KURTEES offers a wide and elegant compilation of turtlenecks, V-necks and crew-necks, button-up Henleys and more, all in an array of solid colours, stripes and prints. Extremely versatile, this collection also encourages you to express your own individual style, so feel free to pair these creations with leather jackets, blazers, army jackets, sneakers, chappals, baseball caps, jeans, churidars and whatever you fancy. The ground-breaking idea of KURTEES came to Steven Jhangiani, when he came back home from work and was contemplating changing into a kurta or a T-shirt. “That’s when it struck me, why wasn’t there a hybrid of the two?”. And in that split second, KURTEES was born.
For the full collection, visit KURTEES.com
“With the launch of KURTEES.com, we aim to give a fresh, modern and casual feel to the kurta, while bringing it into the everyday. These are extremely soft garments that will help you stay cool and comfortable.” – Steven Jhangiani, Founder
STYLE
k c a b d i a l t T he mos t makes the ofo twear tha impression strongest
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PHOTO: MATT MARTIN. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (GRASS). PROP STYLIST: DUSTIN HUBBS/MARK EDWARDS INC.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SANDALS BY DRIES VAN NOTEN. SLIDES BY VANS. SANDALS BY GRENSON. SLIDES BY ADIDAS BY RAF SIMONS. SLIDES BY GUCCI. SLIDES BY BIRKENSTOCK X VALENTINO
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PERFUMED PERFECTION
GQ PROMOTION
While you’re always on top of your style, Skinn by Titan takes it to the next level with signature perfumes that spell brilliance and make for a seamless transition from morning to night You walk into a room. Heads turn. You’re the centre of attention. Everyone’s captivated – and not by your dapper attire, but instead, your perfume. With that magnetic scent, you’ve commanded their attention and made your presence felt. When you spray on a good perfume, it engages your olfactory senses to evoke a flurry of emotional responses and stirs up feelings of nostalgia. So, spend some time understanding the anatomy of a perfume and figuring out which one blends well with your natural scent. After all, a fragrance is not only an intrinsic part of your personal style but also an extension of your personality. And a good perfume goes a long way in creating the right impression – especially on the ladies! Indulge your senses with Skinn’s men’s perfumes that whisk you away on an unforgettable journey. Crafted by international perfumers, their repertoire celebrates an array of alluring fragrances that range from woody, spicy and musky to floral, citrusy and fruity. Moreover, their perfumes are dermatologically tested, so rest assured, they will suit all skin types. So, start and end your day on an enchanting note with these signature fragrances from Skinn: PERFECT DAYTIME PERFUMES You’ve got an important meeting scheduled with a potential client. And while you’ve picked out your power suit, you need something to take your look up a notch, or more. That extra something that will boost your confidence and make an impression. You don’t want it to be too overpowering to the point that it puts the client off nor can it be too subtle to the point of it going unnoticed. Consider Skinn’s Raw and Verge eau de parfums. While Raw boasts crisp citrusy notes that exude vitality and warm woody notes that embody masculinity, Verge is all about classy leathery accords and fresh citrusy notes that give you that much-needed adrenalin rush. Raw by perfumers Olivier Pescheux and Nadege Le Garlantezec Top notes: Bergamot, watery fruits, mandarin Middle notes: Violet leaves, pomarose, carnation, geranium Base notes: Indonesian patchouli, cashmeran, gaiac wood Verge by perfumer Nadege Le Garlantezec Top notes: Lavandin oil, lemon oil and accords of rosemary and basil oils Middle notes: Mahonial, geranium, spearmint oil Base notes: Patchouli, leather accord, oak moss accord PERFECT NIGHT-TIME PERFUMES A date has been set up. It’s at her favourite restaurant. You’re ready to come dressed to impress, but are agonising over which perfume to complement your attire with. After all, it is the first date and you want to sweep her off her feet. So, you need a perfume that puts your minds at ease and gets both of you in the mood. Allow us to introduce you to Skinn’s Steele eau de parfum – a woody-cumcitrusy fragrance that expertly combines charisma and confidence to exude an effortless charm. A seductive perfume in and out, this one promises an action-packed night ahead – pun intended! Steele by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin Top notes: Bergamot and pink grapefruit essences, green rhubarb Middle notes: Pink pepper, pimento, nutmeg, geranium Base notes: Musk, vanilla, praline, roasted Tonka beans For more information, visit skinn.in
STYLE
IN THE NEWS
LINE OF SIGHT
As Henry Cavill gets ready to burn up your screens with his hot new series The Witcher, we ask the impeccably turned-out British actor and face of Hugo Boss eyewear about his many style moves
What was the first suit you bought? It was a suit I wore for The Count Of Monte Cristo’s premiere. I bought it in Italy while I was there filming. I loved it, still do, I think. Had a really cool Mandarin collar. Not sure it would fit any more, though. Are suits still the highest order of luxury? Luxury is so relative. There are days when I consider sleeping past 5am an irreplaceable luxury. How many pieces of eyewear do you own? At the moment, I have five pairs of Hugo Boss sunglasses in the house. Which frames are you partial to? I do like a square frame, but I’m always open to trying out other styles, depending on what I’m wearing. What’s your workout routine like? At the moment, it’s weightlifting86 —
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based. My trainer, Dave Rienzi, programmes my workouts to be as efficient as possible. I have very few hours in the day to actually work out, and not much in the way of energy. So he has the unenviable task of making sure we achieve everything we need to, as far as fat loss and muscle mass gain are concerned, while still having enough energy for a full day’s shooting. Tell us about your latest television series, The Witcher. I play the main lead, Geralt of Rivia, who was abandoned as a child at a place called Kaer Morhen, where he was subjected to physical and alchemical trials. After that, he was reborn as a Witcher, an incredibly long-lived monster hunter. It’s a fantasy setting, based on a series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski. Which shows are you binge watching? Just finished watching Umbrella Academy, which I enjoyed enormously. That, and Sex Education. You’re a huge petrolhead – which bike is on your wish list? The Ducati Panigale V4.
STYLE TIP
Let’s face it, not everyone has Cavill’s chiselled bone structure and near-perfect jaw line. Opt for rectangular frames for round faces, and circular eyewear for square faces.
INTERVIEW: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
What does style mean to you? I think personal style changes over the years as we change and grow as people. Recently, I’ve found that a classic look with a little extra something is appealing to me.
GQ PROMOTION
LONG LIVE THY ACCESSORY
Let’s face it: finding those perfect accessories is no walk in the park. And when you finally do find the winning combinations, it’s only natural to want to extend their life for as long as possible. That’s where Cobbler steps in – to make thy accessory live longer THY DILEMMA
How do you feel when you see your favourite pair of Italianmade leather shoes walking their last walk? Or a carefully stowed away luxury belt emerging damaged thanks to godforsaken moisture? What about when a drink falls all over your expensive wallet. Frustrating, isn’t it?
WHAT WILL SOLVE THY FRUSTRATION?
Cobbler by Pressto is the ultimate specialist in shoe and accessory care and repair, armed with a savoir faire and technical know-how to promise you the best when it comes to restoring and reviving your beloved leather accessories.
WHY THY CAN TRUST IN COBBLER?
It’s got the most sophisticated machinery and equipment imported from the UK and Netherlands, all geared up to give your accessories the attention they need.
ALL THY NEEDS TO DO
Walk into the flagship Cobbler stores in Mumbai or Bengaluru and hand over your accessories for a thorough inspection to determine the best solution. Post a patch test for service eligibility, the specialist will take over, spending hours before you get your accessory back in asgood-as-new condition.
THE KIND OF SERVICES THY CAN PICK… Sole Swap: Cobbler’s specialists have innovated a mechanism of dismantling your shoe’s battered sole one stitch at a time. It then boosts it with a made-tomeasure variant, while still ensuring the shoe’s overall appearance and fit isn’t tainted. You can even opt for a pair of coloured soles, should you want to add some extra swag. Leather Makeover: Cobbler’s restoration process involves cleaning and steaming the interlining of your leather products to a point of perfection. It then bestows shine on the exterior with a specialist foam followed by a final drying and fragrancing process. TLC for you and your shoes: Cobbler uses a specialized machine to stretch your new shoes out to your exact size with ease, while maintaining your pair’s original form and condition. What’s more, it promises the best in post-care for your shoes with in-house equipment that uses a combination of foam and specialized cleaning agents as well as a polish palette that boasts 222 shades.
Visit Pressto Cobbler exclusive stores at Nepeansea Road and Prabhadevi in Mumbai and Indiranagar and Koramangala in Bengaluru. For more information, visit www.presstoindia.com, call 1800229199 or email info@presstoindia.com.
The Curious Case Of The Book installation comes to life; (Below) U2’s Adam Clayton and Oasis offspring Lennon Gallagher, part of a strong lineup of real men
THE INSIGHT
FRAME OF MIND
By not succumbing to hype-worthy fashion and continuing to rule the cosmos on tasteful menswear, Hermès is perhaps setting the biggest trend of them all W R I T T E N B Y S H I VA N G I LOL AY EK A R
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IMAGE: ANDREW MEREDITH (THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE BOOK, THE TIE OBSERVERS), CHRIS MOORE (RUNWAY), CLOUD VISION (HAT FISHING A GUIDE, SILK COMICS, THE SKETCH BOOK)
STYLE
wo years ago at the Spring/ Summer men’s collections showcase in Paris, fashion’s tastemakers were just beginning to get a whiff of the style blizzard about to envelop them: Sneakers (not quite chunky yet) were making their way to the front row; logos were splashed across T-shirts, catapulting their value from basic to steep; street style was becoming as prominent as the show itself. At Hermès, which traditionally takes up an evening slot and catches the sublime June twilight in an openair setting reminiscent of a Roman forum, the mood was a stark contrast to the noise brewing elsewhere. The Parisian house continued to celebrate slower, languorous fashion, where construction and form were still undisputable heroes, as models walked down the runway to the soundtrack of “All You Need Is Love”. Hermès was in no hurry to capitalise on trends. It went above and beyond hype (besides a few subtle H-marked accessories and interweaves you needed a magnifying glass to identify) and believed there were enough men in the world seeking the highest order of luxury it was very willing to offer. This, in fact, is a trend in itself. Fashion was, and still is, very much about love, about having a party in your mind, experiencing and indulging, never being taken too seriously. Luxury is to be relished selfishly, for a surge of pleasure only you will truly understand. Véronique Nichanian, the longstanding Hermès Men’s Artistic Director, who isn’t on social media and doesn’t care for the loud buzz some of her counterparts at mega houses carry but is by far one of the most respected in her game, is very much a believer. In her words: “Beautiful things, beautifully done, in nice materials... With a sense of
(Clockwise from top) Hat Fishing: A Guide, to capture your underwater look; Silk Comics for a lesson in how to tie a Hermès scarf; Sketch Book, a live experience; (Below) Constellations surround The Tie Observers booth
humour.” Strong statements that don’t need to shout and scream. This was evident again in London earlier this year, where Hermès showcased its annual men’s universe presentation, titled Step Into The Frame, at Nine Elms – an old sorting office that sounds like a Harry Potter landmark, and resembled an adult funfair. First up was a runway show with a 48-strong line-up of men in all shapes and sizes (including the managing director of Hermès UK Bertrand Michaud giddily waving out to his team. Hermès prides itself on being a big family, and employees stay on for years. Nichanian is at 31 and counting). U2’s Adam Clayton, superstar chef Jackson Boxer and Oasis offspring Lennon Gallagher were among the cast of men chosen, as Benedict Cumberbatch and Jade Jagger cheered from the front row. Zesty lemon trousers, mandarin orange joggers, delicious leather bombers, thighskimming shorts and an oversized take on the Birkin successfully managed to distract me from supermodel and actor Andrés Velencoso sitting in front of me. Nichanian, not one to get left behind, even alluded to streetwear and formed a new category of fashion altogether: elegant luxury athleisure for the discerning gentleman. Velencoso looked half ready to jump onto the runway to try on the top threads. The show was a precursor for a whimsical fashion carnival you had to navigate like an Alice In Wonderland-esque maze. A tunnel with neon bright lights opened up to myriad JULY 2019
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STYLE booths, each offering an interactive experience into Hermès’ fantastical universe: observatory telescopes to look into the constellation with iconic Hermès ties floating alongside stars; a live artist studio where illustrators drew amusing caricature portraits; a magazine booth that shifted from glossies to old-school comics, allowing you to click a polaroid with a Hermès scarf like you were donning Superman’s cape. The highlight was a tunnel chronicling Hermès’ greatest hits, including a black calf oversized travel bag perched up like a museum piece that was on loan from a jetsetting aesthete and came with a note: “I live in airports and planes. And this bag is always by my side. It’s really quite big and that’s what I love about it, the scale, I feel it’s utilitarian rather than ‘luxurious’. I love the story that this was the first bag Hermès ever made, back in the 19th century, to carry saddles. It’s lived through the equestrian age, the age of the motorcar and the jet, and I am sure it will continue to work with whatever kind of
(Clockwise from top left) The theme for Hermès Men’s Universe 2019: Step Into The Frame; Véronique Nichanian with her line-up of models; an oversized travel bag; (Below) The Bird’s Eye View, of sneakers, sandals and loafers
transportation comes next. I went for black fullgrain leather and polished brass and it’s aged really well.” Everywhere you looked, Nine Elms was a nod to Hermès’ storied archives, with a sprinkling of present-day cool and a whole lot of fun. The massive bar serving cocktails you imagine are only available on a private yacht in St Bart’s, set off by hors d’oeuvres out of food trucks, added to the contrasting vibe. Every piece of clothing, accessory and sneaker fit into the mould of #trending that would appeal to a hypebeast as much as it would fall into your timeless pile of wares. Much of that comes from Nichanian, who has a rare distinction, evolving alongside her customers but never compromising on what you’d ultimately check into Hermès for: damn good taste. 90 —
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IMAGE: MATTEO MONTANARI (VÉRONIQUE NICHANIAN WITH MODELS)
LUXURY IS TO BE RELISHED SELFISHLY, FOR A SURGE OF PLEASURE ONLY YOU WILL TRULY UNDERSTAND
GQ PROMOTION
SIGNATURE SCENTS
Finding your signature fragrance might seem like a task. Unless, of course, you’ve been introduced to The Man Company and its range of heady male fragrances that are here to stay Your suit and tie may be sleek and fine. Your luxurious beard may be perfectly trimmed and groomed. You may be sporting the latest hairstyle. But seriously, none of this matters if you don’t finish off your look with a spritz of the right perfume! But if you cringed at the words ‘right perfume’ believing that there’s no such thing, think again. The Man Company offers a bevy of premium grooming essentials for every man. Think hair gels, shampoos, beard oils, the works. Each product here is designed for your ultimate indulgence, sure to make you stand apart in a crowded room. And if you think that you haven’t found the perfect fragrance yet, we bet you’ll find it with The Man Company.
A SPRITZ OF SPICE w
Like to create an aura of mystery wherever you go? Then EDT Spice might just be specially crafted for you. Twisting off the cap will surround you with a spicy scent that is in equal strides subtle and fiery. EDT Spice comes with a top note of spicy clove, with middle notes of cinnamon. Its base notes of enchanting patchouli, finally make for a scent that is anything but forgettable. Ideal for: Date night. Priced at `1,299
A WHIFF OF PASSION q
Inhale the scents of summer with EDT Passion, the brand’s heady fragrance with a scent that is all male. Even better: this one doesn’t fade away in a few hours, letting you live it up just a little longer. Its top note of bergamot blends beautifully with middle notes of lavender, tied together by base notes of comforting vanilla. Ideal for: Swish sundowners. Priced at `1,299 Use code GQ20 on the website to avail 20% off on the EDT range* For more information, visit www.themancompany.com /TheManCompany @themancompany @themancompany
*Terms & Conditions apply
THE INSIDE STORY Your mastery over what to wear, when is important. But it all goes to pieces if your base layer is off the mark. Worry not. Jockey shows you how to pair the right underwear with the right occasion, so that you’re fashionable and comfortable, inside and out
Picture this: you’re Ross from Friends in those clingy black leather pants trying to go about your business. Not only do you have those treacherous trousers to deal with, but your underwear is complicating matters further. Thankfully, this is now a problem of the past. Jockey – the world’s favourite innerwear brand – recognises the need for comfort and also understands fashion. Here are four pieces from its repertoire to show you how to combine comfort, style and freedom, irrespective of the occasion.
1.
DATE NIGHT
You’ve both swiped right on that app, a date has been fixed at a fancy rooftop bar. And let’s face it. One thing could lead to another, so you may as well be prepared with these super luxurious trunks from Jockey’s International Collection. Comfortable and stylish, we’d like to believe that it will bolster your inner confidence. It boasts abstract prints and a stylish metallic waistband crafted from super-soft elastane fabric that promises unmatched comfort.
2.
GQ PROMOTION
PARTY CENTRAL
No party is a party unless it involves heady spirits, some great music and lots of dancing. But grooving on the dance floor involves plenty of movement, and the last thing you need is an underwear that’s restricting. So, instead of grabbing the first pair in your closet, check out these snazzy, stretchy trunks by Jockey. Hailing from the brand’s Pop Colour line, their bold, neon-hued prints give them an element of playfulness. Better still, the ultra-soft waistband won’t dig into your skin while you boogie the night away.
3.
WORKOUT WEEKENDS
Gym days are always tough. Whether you’re working your abs, legs, arms or any other part of your body, there’s a great deal of stretching, bending and jumping involved – not to mention, lots of sweat. These boxer briefs from Jockey’s Sport performance range will fast become your favourite workout buddy. Hugging the contours of your body perfectly, it offers support and facilitates ease of movement. The length will help prevent chafing, the StayDry™ and StayFresh™ technologies will enable moisture wicking and the breathable mesh panel will help keep things cool down under.
4.
VACAY MODE
While the clothes you pack depend on the kind of holiday you embark upon, there is only one rule when it comes to choosing your underwear. You need to select something that’s breathable and durable. These briefs from Jockey’s USA Originals collection are the perfect example. Crafted from super-combed Pima cotton and modal elastane fabric, they guarantee durability and comfort when on the move. Offering a low-rise fit, its lightweight material provides that much-needed breathability.
Available at Jockey Exclusive Stores, jockeyindia.com and leading retail outlets near you
STYLE NEXT MOVE
CULTURE VULTURE KING OF QUIRK
You can’t miss Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson looking fly in Paul Smith suits in Men In Black: International. The legendary British designer created a capsule of clothes and accessories pumped up with colourful aliens to coincide with the movie. The tailoring takes from Smith’s A Suit To Travel In phenom, but the best part is the designer makes a cameo in the movie – proving there’s nothing he can’t do.
GQ EYE HOT STEPPER
It’s as unexpected a collab as Kanye and Paul McCartney. Last month at Pitti Uomo, Givenchy dropped a surprise project with Onitsuka Tiger, sending a black iteration of the latter’s Mexico 88 shoe down the runway with Givenchy detailing in red and white, and an all-white pair showcasing the Onitsuka Tiger stripe and Givenchy lettering. Not only is this the first time that Givenchy has partnered with an external sneaker manufacturer on a global scale, it also marks Onitsuka’s first time collaborating with a luxury fashion house. At approximately `34 000 a pair, i these th ’t going i to t be b on shelves too long. `34,000 aren’t
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JULY 2019
There’s no stopping Gucci from breaking new cultural and fashion ground, and the Italian house’s latest art book, for its Cruise 2020 collection, is a class example. Creative director Alessandro Michele’s brought on Greek film director and producer Yorgos Lanthimos (his movie The Favourite was one of 2018’s best) to shoot at the Leda Gallery of Villa Albani Torlonia in Rome. The book launches in November, but this marble statue that was discovered on the Palatine Hill in Rome is a teaser for what to expect.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. IMAGE: PAUL SMITH AND SONY PICTURES (MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL)
Kunal Rawal’s on fire. The designer, beloved by Bollywood and every cool guy who knows about slick Indo-fusion menswear, is ready to go pan-India with two store openings this month, in Delhi and Hyderabad. This comes hot on the heels of his Mumbai flagship that launched earlier this year. The new stores too will be designed by architect Rooshad Shroff, who’ll bring in industrial and grunge elements to match Rawal’s inimitable aesthetic.
GQ’S ULTIMATE GROOMING GUIDE IN THE JULY AND NOVEMBER 2019 ISSUES For more information, contact gqindiaadsales@condenast.in
F O T F A R C E N I F TH E
FASHION
From the minds of menswear’s top designers and in the hands of the world’s most talented artisans, everyday garments and accessories become wearable works of art
The Featherweight Champion Kim Jones tapped into Dior’s storied history of whipping up otherworldly women’s creations and applied it to the humble men’s dress shirt. It took 15 people at Lemarié (Paris’ last couture feather house) 900 hours to handcraft the pièce de résistance of his first collection: this impossibly lightweight button-up, hand-embroidered with 2,000 individual feathers. SHIRT BY DIOR MEN
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PHOTOGRAPHED BY ARNAUD PYVKA
A Bucket Hat For Peacocks Luckily, you can own a slice of Pierpaolo Piccioli’s wondrous one-off creations for Valentino haute couture, which every season rub off on his men’s ready-towear collections. This time it’s in the form of bucket hats feathered with dyed goose, peacock and pheasant plumage. HAT BY VALENTINO
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A Bomber That Breaks The Mould How do you make a shatteredglass jacket that doesn’t require a paramedic on standby? If you’re Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, you invent custom film-printed and laser-cut plexiglass wedges to mimic the real thing and have them sewn one by one onto a bomber jacket base decked out with sequins, crystal and (actual) glass beads. JACKET BY BALMAIN
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Louis Vuitton Begins To Bloom Virgil Abloh’s debut collection for Louis Vuitton generated an internet-breaking level of hype, but behind harnessmania is LV’s tradition of craftsmanship. The “Dorothy in the poppies” motifs (the collection was inspired by The Wizard Of Oz) on this vest and blouson were created using glass beads, painstakingly applied by hand. VEST, JACKET; BOTH BY LOUIS VUITTON
PROP STYLIST: SINAN SIGIC PHOTO ASSISTANT: ARTURO ASTORINO DIGITAL OPERATOR: YAN SENEZ PRODUCTION: WORKINGIRL RETOUCHING: D FACTORY
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It’s been over two years since his last film. In that time, Hrithik Roshan has been flying under the radar. But of late, he’s become controversy’s favourite child. GQ caught up with the actor, and discovered a man who’s used the time away from the spotlight to work on becoming the best version of himself (yet)
P H OTOG R A P H E D BY T E JA L PAT N I
WRITTEN BY SHIKHA SETHI
STYLED BY LAKSHMI LEHR
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JACKET, JOGGERS; BOTH BY HERMÈS
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TRENCH COAT, SHIRT; BOTH BY PAUL SMITH. JOGGERS BY DIESEL. SNEAKERS BY ONITSUKA TIGER. WATCH BY RADO
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The next afternoon, a bright and sunny day, Roshan joins me in the Yash Raj Film Studios’ atrium-café, with a bounce in his step. He’s dressed in a black T-shirt, hoodie, joggers and midnightblue ASICS sneakers. He’s quick to notice my neon lime green jersey, with the phrase “no thanks” printed on it. I wore it because it would resonate with his current state of mind, I tell him. Especially the prospect of having to speak to a journalist at this moment. He laughs heartily.
I On a balmy Saturday night in June, I get a brief message from Hrithik Roshan’s team: “Tomorrow, 1pm, YRF Studios.” Waiting for an interview slot with the actor has been an unnerving experience – four times a meeting has been fixed; four times it’s been cancelled. It’s been a rough week for the actor, with a barrage of controversial tweets by Rangoli Chandel, Kangana Ranaut’s sister and manager, who’s accused the Roshan family of mistreating Sunaina Roshan, Hrithik’s sister, who, in turn, has tweeted about “living in hell”. The tweetstorm followed an announcement by Roshan a month earlier, advancing the release date of his film Super 30, to avoid a clash with the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Judgementall Hai Kya. He’d taken this decision in order to save himself “the personal trauma and toxic mental violence this would cause.” When I check the actor’s Twitter timeline for a response to this latest provocation, absurdly – comically – the most recent tweet I see is a video of him pumping weights, with the accompanying text: No more excuses holding you back. Get ready to kickstart your fitness goals with @hrxbrand Your time is now! #KeepGoing. #MyntraEndOfReasonSale #TooBigToMiss #HRX
t’s a chaotic time for the actor, between overseeing post-production on Super 30, set to release this month, and completing the shoot for his untitled film with Yash Raj Studios with Tiger Shroff (unofficially being called Tiger Vs Hrithik). He’s also working out for three hours every day, but it isn’t only to maintain those abs. At 45, he wants to “remain fit and fighting, to be pain-free and feel normal.” He has a mobile gym, and outside his vanity van a pair of light Adidas weights and a blue Bosu ball occupy pride of place. These days, Hrithik Roshan is consciously choosing films that deeply move him, because then “the rest of the journey becomes easy. I’m not a very good actor, I’m not the fittest guy. I’m the opposite of these things, so movies for me are a very difficult thing [to make]. It takes a lot out of me to do the simplest things that other actors do instinctively. That’s why I need to find stories that fuel me to go through the entire process – to wake up at 6 o’clock, to take the aching back, knees, shoulders, the broken bones – and do what I do. Super 30 just hit it out of the park for me, especially the climax.” He enjoyed working on the film so much that he briefly contemplated doing more films that were less physically challenging, before catching himself mid-thought: “Woah, dude, that’s allowing yourself to get old.” So when he was offered a gruelling, high-octane action film with Yash Raj Studios, he was tempted to sign on, but on the condition that Tiger Shroff would also do the film. “After doing movies like Kaabil and Super 30, I needed a force that would drive me to be my best. I was getting too complacent, and I felt only Tiger had the power to stand in front of me,” he laughs, “and make me look like a piece of shit. I don’t think anyone else would’ve ignited me the way he has.”
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“love can’t turn into hate. If it’s hate, it wasn’t love. The flipside of love… is also love” He’s excited about the star system being disrupted too, and the flood of experimental content taking over our screens. “We’re getting to a much better place. It’s far more real – that whole concept of actors being gods? The distance isn’t that much now. Look at Tiger, Varun, Ranbir – they’re chill. No one’s walking around like a star,” he enthuses, briefly mimicking the brooding expression of the superstar generation that preceded his. “But they’re still delivering hit films.” He’s prone to binge-watching web series, and apart from the usual international suspects, he loves Delhi Crime and Made In Heaven in particular (“I messaged everyone to congratulate them”). “We’re dialling down the melodrama,” he says. “I love when I see a real moment, and it happens so often now.” He sees himself at the cusp, having made his debut at the turn of the millennium, a bridge between the Khans and today’s young guns. He’s taking his cues from Gen Z, and trying to break out more often than he has in the past. “I’ve done
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some very lonely characters, and now I want to have fun. My YRF film with Tiger has been so enjoyable. So I’m open to doing more of these two-hero films and” – ensemblay, he says, temporarily forgetting how to pronounce it, before correcting himself – “ensembles, as well as incredible one-off characters in smaller films. Right now, I’m looking for the niches, as well as the big fun projects.”
I
f any of those projects involve recasting the traditional Hindi film hero, all the better. That guy needs to grow up; Hindi films need to stop pretending like the only legitimate kind of love is romantic love. “Every single Hindi film hero, until 2006, has had a victim syndrome, and propagated this idea of obsessive love. I blame my people for creating this mindset,” he says sheepishly. I agree whole-heartedly, the reviews of Kabir Singh fresh in my mind. “The Hindi film hero is a baby!” he says emphatically. “The only reason he thinks he’s strong is because he knows he has an audience. So he’ll have his guitar in his hand, half a smile on his face, a teardrop in his eye and he’ll sing to himself because he knows he’s being watched. And anyone who’s grown up making that guy his idol, is done for in life.” We’re talking about Bollywood’s stereotypical depiction of love in the context of his relationship with his ex-wife, Sussanne Khan, with whom he appears to share a genuine bond. “In The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran talks about love being a temple that’s held up by two columns. If the columns become one, the temple will topple. The further apart they are, and the stronger they are, the bigger the temple of love. So you have to respect each other’s individuality. It’s vital to be self-sufficient in your emotional needs. So anything that comes from the other person is welcome, but you don’t demand it.” Days before our meeting, Khan had put out an Instagram post referring to Sunaina Roshan as a “loving, warm, caring person, who is in an unfortunate situation”, and appealed to people to “respect a family’s tough period”. Roshan continues: “It’s a beautiful relationship. With our kids, with us as friends, it’s all about wisdom. One thing is for sure: Love can’t turn into hate. If it’s hate, it wasn’t love. The flipside of love… Is also love. Once you understand that, you’ll keep finding ways back into love.”
JACKET BY CALVIN KLEIN JEANS. T-SHIRT BY MASSIMO DUTTI. JOGGERS BY SCOTCH & SODA. WATCH BY RADO
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BOMBER, TROUSERS; BOTH BY SCOTCH & SODA. T-SHIRT BY MARKS & SPENCER. SNEAKERS BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN HAIR: TEAM HAKIM’S AALIM MAKE-UP: VIJAY PALANDE FASHION ASSISTANTS: SELMAN FAZIL, SHAEROY CHINOY PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA, PRODBAY PRODUCTION
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“I needed a force that would drive me to be my best. I was getting too complacent, and I don't think any one else could have ignited me the way Tiger has” The school of hard knocks has perhaps forced Roshan to open up in ways he might not have otherwise. He appears eager to go beyond the trappings of celebrity to spark new connections – by immersing himself in work, meeting new people, travelling. He seems almost wary of stardom, conscious of not blurring the lines between Hrithik the star, whose perfection is meditated upon and painstakingly constructed, and Hrithik the person. Not that he feels like a star that often. “I get to live that life for ten days a year,” he reckons, “when I don’t have to stand in queues at airports, or when I’m on stage [for shows], though I rarely do those now. Sometimes,” he continues, “the contrast between the two lives is so great, it hovers between comedy and tragedy.” His biggest indulgence, the thing he “needs to earn lots of money for”, is travel. This year, he says ruefully, he’s “living a little less, prioritising work, earning money so I can spend it next year.” He travels with his two boys, Hrehaan (13) and Hridhaan (11), who are the centre of his world. “If there’s heaven on earth, it’s travelling with my two boys. And we don’t do it as tourists.” The boys have a floor-to-ceiling map in their room that spans an entire wall, and the plan is to cover as much of it as possible. Once, in Canada, Roshan tells me, beaming, they spent a day in the wild with naturalist and TEDx speaker Nikki van Schyndel. “We cooked our own food, pitched tents. At the end of each day, the three of us would sit down and write about what we learned in our journals – we call them Victory Logs.” A thought occurs to him. “You know, without the responsibility of being a father, perhaps I would’ve kept thinking that the world isn’t such a good place. But while trying to prove to them that it’s a beautiful place for their sake, I stumbled upon the fact that it really is.” Roshan himself is an avid journaller; every night, he runs through the day’s events, and writes about the moments when he did something new or felt like he grew from an experience. “I have to. Because one’s brain – especially my brain, and those of people from my generation – we’ve been brought up by having our faults
pointed out to us. It’s to help us improve, but it means that that’s what we learn to focus on.” Roshan has a clear parenting philosophy, based on the premise that children are “little human beings like you and me – they’re not stupid,” and should be exposed to reality as far as possible. He grew up terribly cocooned, and insists that he never wants his kids to feel “bewildered” (the word he uses is hairaan). “They should be aware of all the events that have, or could ever, happen in the world. If you don’t have that map in your head,” he says ruefully, “you find yourself in a state of shock, and then it’s very difficult to navigate the world. You’re disconnected, and you just get numb.”
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e’ve been talking for an hour when Siddharth Anand, the baby-faced director of the YRF film, comes up to our table to inform Roshan that his shot is ready. Before he goes, though, I have one last question. The trajectory of his life has resembled the jagged line on an ECG monitor more than anything salutary. (A quick recap: A debilitating stutter in his childhood, an extra thumb, a father who was shot at by the underworld and is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, brain surgery, professional failure, allegations of infidelity, a protracted legal battle with a former co-star, divorce, the current crisis rocking his family.) What is it then that drives him? “I’m personally motivated because nothing makes sense,” he says simply. “Life doesn’t make sense, this world doesn’t make sense to me, but I feel that if I can push beyond my boundaries and what I know, then maybe I’ll understand it all. I want to reach a point where I can tell my kids that it’s worth it.” He pauses to check if I understand what he’s saying. “I keep reaching those points. It comes and goes. So I’ve realised that perhaps it’s not a point at all; maybe it’s milestones, and you sporadically keep hitting these notes. You’ve just got to keep making it worth it.”
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E K A T H S E R F
ooming s in your gr d o o g e th maintain update fferings to o t s It’s time to le o o c st of 2019 ere are the s for the re e arsenal. H ib v le b ti , irresis those slick RIA IMO J BILL EENA J Y B D RI EDITE JHAVE NESH BY JIG D E H GRAP PHOTO
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FRAGRANCES HIT THE RIGHT NOTES It pays to be the bestsmelling guy in the room
1. WIDIAN BLACK V
This unisex number is sexy enough to match your swag. `15,600
2. JO MALONE
BRONZE WOOD & LEATHER
A rich, sensual scent for those weekly date nights. `11,000
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5.
3. ACQUA DI PARMA COLONIA LEATHER
6.
One of few scents that can be worn on any occasion – whether it’s to the movies or a wedding. `15,700
4. MONTBLANC EXPLORER
The German brand’s latest packs quite a woody and leathery punch, for those who dare. `6,750
7.
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5. CALVIN KLEIN
ONE PLATINUM EDITION
A fragrance she can borrow from you too. The question is, who wore it better? `3,400
6. LACOSTE
L’HOMME INTENSE
An uber-masculine scent that’s just a generous spray away. `5,750
7. DOLCE & GABBANA GREY
A modern scent that’s perfect for the man who’s in the habit of rocking a sharp suit on the daily. `4,475
8. COACH PLATINUM
A strong, pleasing scent that’ll linger even after the sun has set. `6,000
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FRAGRANCES 9. L’OCCITANE
CEDRAT EAU DE TOILETTE
10.
Everyone knows you can’t go wrong with a fresh, zesty bottle. `3,950
10. GIVENCHY
EAU DE GIVENCHY
Smell like a fresh summer breeze, no matter what month it is. `6,400
11. LOUIS VUITTON L’IMMENSITÉ
A spicy, lemon-y concoction to add to your ever-growing collection. `19,000
12. HUGO BOSS
THE SCENT PRIVATE ACCORD
Your accomplice for when you want to show off your playful and mischievous side. `6,450
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HAIR CARE MANE MAN Your locks need TLC too
13. KÉRASTASE
Densifique Bain Densité Homme, `2,100
14. OUAI
13.
Matte Pomade, `2,400
15. THE MAN COMPANY
Urban Machismo Hair Styling Cream Wax, `600
16. L’ORÉAL BARBER CLUB
Beard & Skin Oil, `500
17. TRUEFITT & HILL Regency Razor, `7,800
18. PAUL MITCHELL
Instant Moisture Conditioner, `1,170
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18. 15.
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SKINCARE BODY TALK Knock yourself out with these epidermis-loving goodies
19. OLIVE
21. THE BODY SHOP
Cactus Blossom Exfoliating Gel Body Scrub, `1,195
22. THE FACE SHOP
Facial Booster Oil, `2,235
Jeju Volcanic Lava Pore Mud Pack, `1,320
20. ORGANIC HARVEST
23. PHY
Lemon Lip Balm, `200
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In The Clear Acne-Fighting Face Wash, `450
24. FOREST ESSENTIALS
Blood Orange Hand Serum, `1,295
25. KIEHL’S
Centella Sensitive Cica-Cream, `3,650
26. KAMA AYURVEDA
Foot Scrub With Pure Essential Oils Of Lime, Verbena, Musk & Sandalwood, `550
GQ PROMOTION
PITCH-PERFECT HAIRDOS It’s time to bowl them over as Schwarzkopf Professional zeros in on three fashionable hairstyles for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and shows you how to own them. All so that you can take your fandom to the next level
The ongoing World Cup has raked up the frenzy of cricket fans. And why not? We stand a good chance at winning with our all rounder champion team. So while you’re planning a World Cup get-together for the big matches, you may also want to figure out how you’re going to root for the country. We recommend that you take your enthusiasm up a notch with a fab new hairdo. Choose from one of the three styles and recreate it with the OSiS+ range by Schwarzkopf Professional.
SCOOP SHOT
A fresh f take e on the pompadour, this style features tapered sides and l longer lockss at the crown. And guess what, it works for several face s d hair types. shapes and G THE LOOK GET OOK After using a shampoo and conditioner from the new BC Bonacure range, ange, apply a small amount of OSiS+ Grip to amp-up the hair hai d maintain its longevity. Use a blow-dryer and vent brush to volume and loo with create a root lift and pouf around the front hairline. Set the look a smalll amount of OSiS+ Thrill.
SQUARE CUT
Classic yet stylish, this hairdo is taking 2019’s cricket world wo by storm. Super easy and effortless, this style captures the true millennial vibe. GET THE LOOK Use a BC Bonacure shampoo and conditioner conditio for i your hair type. Apply OSiS+ G. Force+ to the towel-dried hair, a dry.. comb with the compact side of the comb and leave it to air
GOOG Y GOOGLY
This versatile hairdo allows you to look different every single day. ness and the World Cup offers the perfect excuse It exudes sexiness i to experiment with it. G THE LOOK OOK Apply OSiS+ Grip on hair that’s freshly GET nd conditioned with the new BC Bonacure shampooed and w dry and create texture with a round brush. products. Blow S the style with OSiS+ Flexwax. Set
Available at all leading salons across India /schwarzkopfprofessionalindia @schwarzkopfin #myschwarzkopf
SUIT BY PAUL STUART. SHIRT BY SSS WORLD CORP. SANDALS BY GRENSON
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SETH ROGEN S C I ENCE AND THE
OF
ROGENOMICS He’s still getting high. He’s still making us laugh. But he’s kinda running Hollywood now, too P H OTO G R A P H E D BY S E B A S T I A N M A D E R
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S T Y L E D BY M O B O L A J I D AW O D U
ogen is not the type of dude to distil his strategies for living into therapeutic sound bites, little chunks of wisdominspo to be digested in the morning alongside a matcha and some sun salutations. In fact, and thank god, he wouldn’t even formally consider them “strategies for living” at all, let alone dream of imposing them on anyone else. Still, spend a little time in his company, talking about his life, and certain patterns start to emerge, themes and lessons recurring with enough frequency that they can be isolated for general distribution: Work harder than everyone else. Find a mentor, or at least some encouragement. Cultivate enduring relationships. Grow gradually. Beware hubris. Never be their biggest problem. Be in control of your own work (where possible). Always have something else going on. On a Tuesday afternoon in April, Seth Rogen was sitting in a corner booth in the back of Canter’s Deli on Fairfax in LA, awaiting his matzo-ball soup. Over the years he’s celebrated birthdays here, in the Kibitz Room bar, and, in the era before he had offices, the restaurant functioned as a de facto conference room for business meetings. No surprise, then, that he was greeted like the mayor, along with obscure inside jokes with the waitstaff. Almost immediately, Rogen – bearded, bespectacled, becapped – was approached by some blokes apologetically asking for a picture. He obliged, grabbing their phones and mugging for twosecond intervals. “Taking the picture myself was a big evolution,” he said after they’d gone. “That helps. Takes a lot of the guesswork out.” For people whose casual impression of him begins and ends with the gallery of quasi-employed, stoned men-children he played in his 20s, it might be hard to
W R I T T E N BY C A R O L I N E M c C LO S K E Y
fully comprehend that Rogen, now 37, is a legitimate Hollywood operator and entrepreneur in his own right, with a career that extends well beyond acting and writing. Over a single week this past spring, for example, he announced a multi-platform deal between Point Grey – his production company with creative partner Evan Goldberg – and Lionsgate, and launched a weed brand emphasising consumer education, Houseplant, in his native Canada. In addition to developing, writing and acting in his own film projects, Rogen produces television (Preacher, Future Man, Black Monday, The Boys), does voice work (Sausage Party, the upcoming Lion King), and with his wife, Lauren MillerRogen, created Hilarity for Charity, a series of comedy shows that’s raised millions for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. He’s also writing a book of essays, due out in 2020. That lingering low-achieving persona of his old characters, though, might be a blessing, since it has provided a cover against public scrutiny and raised expectations for Rogen, the human, who arrived in Hollywood as a teenager and hasn’t stopped working since. The man, like the myth, may be a burner, but he’s also a machine. “I really always worked hard, because I recognised from a pretty young age it was one of the only things I could control,” Rogen said. “I remember I did karate as a kid, at the Jewish Community Centre, and when I started, I was the worst in the class, I was the worst of 25 Jewish kids who were afraid of getting picked on. And then just because everyone else quit, three years later I was at the top of the class, and there were 25 Jewish kids who were worse than me. And that was always tangible: Just by not stopping I became the best one. It wasn’t this, like, ferocious leap. I just kept going, and slowly [other] people stopped. Because a lot of people will stop.” 115
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ogen was just back from CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where he’d been deployed to charm a group of international theatre owners on behalf of his new movie, the romantic comedy Long Shot. It was a random-seeming but necessary act of ring kissing and part of the pre-release promotional kabuki that can help nudge a project towards success. (These are the gatekeepers who decide whether or not to screen the films, after all.) Since premiering at South by Southwest in March, where it won an audience award, Long Shot has been boosted by enthusiastic word of mouth on the strength of Rogen’s chemistry with his co-star, Charlize Theron. The film, in which Theron plays the secretary of state and presidential hopeful, as well as Rogen’s former babysitter and love interest, is both a return to form for Rogen and an evolution of the type he’s probably still best known for: the fuzzy slackers of Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Zack And Miri Make A Porno. As in many of those films, Rogen is romantically paired with a cool blonde and ingests his share of recreational drugs. This time, though, his character, whom Rogen described as “an almost good-case scenario of other people I’ve played,” has at least the pretence of both a real job and a legitimate ethical core. Progress! As both producer and star, Rogen was deeply invested in the project, having shepherded it through years of development, and though he’s too seasoned to ever assume that success is a foregone conclusion, he was pleased with the film and cautiously optimistic about its prospects. “When I like it and am proud of it, I am definitely more relaxed,” he said. “It’s awkward to promote a movie that you yourself would not be that excited to go see.” Like what? “I remember You, Me And Dupree was the first time I had to do that, and that movie’s fine, I just didn’t love it. It honestly was not a movie I would have gone out to go see… “It’s okay, the Russo brothers did fine,” he added, laughing. “I actually remember standing in my fucking closet in my apartment on Hayworth, doing a radio interview, being like, ‘Yeah, go see it, it’s great,’ and being like, Ugh. Never again do I want to have to tell people to go see a movie that I myself actually wouldn’t see. It’s hard enough to promote a movie. When you’re also morally corrupting yourself, it’s a real bummer.” Early on in his career, flush with youth and the success of some films he was plenty proud of, Rogen and Goldberg were offered what seemed to be the opportunity of a lifetime: to write – and for Rogen, star in – a film adaptation of The Green Hornet. “At first we were like, ‘Great!’” Rogen recalled. Till then, the pair had enjoyed a large degree of creative input over the film projects they’d written together, the comedies Superbad and Pineapple Express, which had both proved to be whopping hits and recouped their budgets many times over. “They were cheap enough movies that the studios always had bigger fish to fry,” explained Rogen. But going from relatively inexpensive comedies to a $120 million VFX-laden action film was a sudden,
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vertiginous climb. “What I didn’t appreciate was that now we were the bigger fish and we would get all the attention that was being absorbed by other movies on our earlier movies. I remember telling people, ‘They don’t fuck with us, it’s great,’ and then we were sitting in a meeting where [the executives] were like, ‘All right, notes. Page one,’ and I was like, ‘Page one?! What the fuck?’ I was like, ‘I’ve written two movies for you guys over the last few years, I thought we were cool. What are we doing here?’ ” From that point, The Green Hornet was besieged by troubles – director replacements, tensions on the set – and when it was released, in 2011, it was critically savaged. But, Rogen pointed out, “on the grand scale of superhero movies, it isn’t even on the low end of the spectrum of how these movies are received… It’s viewed as this catastrophic disaster, but on the grand scale of catastrophic disasters, it’s not that bad a catastrophic disaster.” Since then, Rogen and Goldberg have rarely strayed from their tried-and-true formula: “Twenty to thirty-five million dollars is where you’re never going to be their biggest problem. That’s literally what it is,” said Rogen. “As long as they’re making some $150 million movie that’s a fucking disaster, they’re not paying attention to us. We’re the smartest business decision they made that week, because they just don’t have to worry about us. A lot of our career is just based on not being their biggest headache. Every once in a while, I meet someone, or one of my friends, [who] is their biggest headache, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, thanks to you, we can do whatever the fuck we want.’” For Rogen, recovery from professional knocks has always come in the form of more work, different work, and that was true post-Hornet as well, so that in the end what might have capsized other careers barely rocked his: “It was a bummer, and I always hate being the centre of thousands of articles telling you how fucking shitty you are – that’s not fun. But if you can get through that, which I have, many times, then you can just keep working. Again, that’s the thing: You just keep working. With the hope that, in general, I will produce more good work than bad work, and that will hopefully carry me onwards.”
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ogen was raised on the east side of Vancouver, the younger of two children (his sister, a social worker, is three years older) in a family of liberal values in a progressive city. For Americans, it’s difficult to imagine growing up in a place that has achieved general consensus on issues like the environment, gun control, gay marriage, abortion and health care, but, Rogen said, “Those are just things that in Canada decades ago have been put to bed and you don’t really think about it.” The Rogens are a family of distinct personalities. His parents, whose relationship he described as “exactly what you would imagine, very shticky –
they’re a Jewish couple,” both worked for government agencies, his mother as a social worker who specialised in teaching parenting skills, and his father for the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities. Sandy, Rogen’s mom, has a popular Twitter account – capsule movie reviews, wine appreciation, domestic observations and hefty doses of maternal pride – that indicates a strong comedic voice of her own. (Sample tweet: “When you wear a big heavy coat no one can tell when you fart”.) These days, she teaches kundalini yoga. “Me and her did it in my living room once, but I mean, if there’s one thing that’s not relaxing, it’s the sound of your own mother’s voice,” said her son. Of the two, though, Rogen said his dad, Mark, is the more indelibly eccentric: “My dad has fully undiagnosed OCD, I would imagine. A good example of how weird he is, is that when I was a kid, he had all these white Champion socks – which is funny, because it’s the same thing I wear – and he didn’t like that they would get washed at different frequencies and would have different thicknesses when they were paired. So he numbered each of his pairs of socks – 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 – so that he knew that the 2s had always been washed the same frequency and he would never be stuck with a sock that had been worn [down more than its mate]. It is a very specific personality.” As he gets older, Rogen notices he has more in common with his creators than he previously imagined. Lately he’s recognised his father’s cadences in his own voice, and he’s become increasingly sympathetic to his dad’s other weirdnesses, such as his habit of wearing a purse. “What’s funny is it makes his mother really uncomfortable,” Rogen said. “My grandmother hates when my dad wears a purse. And around her he still wears a purse but in more muted colours. He’ll wear pretty bright purses, generally speaking. He buys his own, like a Le Sportsac or Kipling purse. But then, recently, I found myself talking to my wife, like, ‘Man, I have too much shit in my pockets, I wish there was a thing I had where I was able to keep this shit.’ And she’s like, ‘You mean like a purse, you motherfucker?’” He sighed. “This is how it happens.” Idiosyncrasies aside, his parents were always big boosters of Rogen’s creative pursuits, even suggesting he sign up for the stand-up comedy workshop that set his career trajectory in motion. “I was the only kid, but it was a non-threatening way to try it,” he remembered. “You got up in front of the class, you said your jokes, it went pretty well, so it was encouraging: This might not be a disaster.” You can watch his old routine on YouTube, and as he slow-rolls through jokes about Jewish summer camp, Jewish grandparents and bullies, it’s the fact of his confidence – unusual at any age, but practically brazen during early adolescence – that dazzles the brain. “I thought I could do it,” he said with a shrug. Kind words from the older comics on the scene cemented that instinct, and he stuck with it. “Especially as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that stand-up comedy can be a very tough world to grow alliances in and find support in. If I met a fucking 14-year-old kid who was trying to do what I was doing, my first instinct would probably be pretty dismissive,” he admitted. “I’m very appreciative that people were nice to me, because
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“THE IDEA OF ACTING IN MOVIES WE ARE NOT PRODUCING IS A LITTLE SCARY TO ME AT TIMES” without that I probably would have just stopped.” Instead, he began doing sets around town, getting easy in front of an audience and perfecting his timing. By the time the casting apparatus for Freaks And Geeks rolled into town, a few years later, Rogen was prepared. “I remember they laughed hard,” he said of the audition. “I remember walking out and being like, ‘If I didn’t get that, fuck those people.’” Overnight, Rogen went from being a high school kid who cut class to smoke weed to working 14-hour days on a set surrounded by adults. That, he said, even more than geography, accounted for the culture shock. His parents, who were both out of work at the time, joined him in Los Angeles, so in addition to suddenly having a serious job, 17-year-old Rogen became, for a time, the family breadwinner: “I was a low-paid actor on a network TV show, but I remember my dad being like, ‘In this year you will make more money than I made my entire life.’” That sounds like an insane amount of pressure for a kid, and I said as much, but Rogen
explained that he experienced the period as a relief. His parents were socialists who worked for the government. Financial security had never been prioritised or guaranteed. “I was happy to have enough money,” Rogen said, “that everyone could have money.” With Freaks And Geeks, Rogen established a relationship with Judd Apatow, the crucial patron of his early career, who’d brought him onto the show and later hired him as both a writer and actor on the college network comedy Undeclared. Their association would bring them mutual glory and enrichment in the end, but first there were disappointments to endure. When both shows were cancelled after one season, Rogen was pissed off and depressed. The whiplash of success and then failure had been a succinct introduction to Hollywood, and he was suddenly stuck in a loop of auditioning and not getting parts. To make matters worse, “My friends who were better actors were getting cast in things,” he said. “That was making me angry as
well. I knew deep down they deserved it more, so that was annoying.” But when Goldberg finished college and joined him in LA, the two directed their energies towards finishing the script for Superbad and writing Pineapple Express. To keep them afloat financially, Apatow tossed them occasional rewriting jobs, and in 2004, they were hired as writers on Da Ali G Show, effectively ending the fallow period for good. Over the next few years, Rogen and Apatow worked together on, among other films, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express – making Rogen a star. He is aware that some of the work from that period has not aged well. “Evan recently was like, ‘By the time my kids are grown, all of our work will be deemed unwatchable.’ He’s like, ‘I have no doubt about it. I think entire parts of culture will just be deemed regressive and no one will fucking watch it any more, and there’s a good chance our movies will fit into that category.’”
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“IT‘S SOMETHING THAT I LOOK AT WITH MYSELF: HOW MUCH DO YOU EXPAND? HOW MUCH DO YOU SPREAD YOUR WINGS, OR HOW MUCH DO YOU STAY IN YOUR LANE? IT‘S A CONSTANT MODULATION”
But they’ve tried to evolve with the times, and Rogen said riding the comedic line between enlightened and neutered in the Age of Woke isn’t as tricky as you might think. “I think if you actually care, then it’s easy. We do not want people to feel bad when they’re watching our movies. I’ve had people come up to me and be like, ‘That made me feel like shit when I was in the movie theatre and everyone was laughing about that.’ Like the ‘How I know you’re gay’ thing [from The 40-Year-Old Virgin], it’s something people have been like, ‘It’s not fun to be in the theatre when people are laughing at that, knowing what they’re probably actually laughing at.’ And I don’t want anyone to have that experience watching our movies.” He laughed and – comedian’s reflex – dashed off a throwaway zing: “That’s why Todd Phillips makes movies. Let him have that.” Departing the Apatow fold after that string of hits was an organic transition, he says, devoid of drama – more open relationship than bitter divorce. But wasn’t it complicated, at least? “It was and it wasn’t,” he said. Over a decade ago, he explained, there was a project – 50/50 – that they’d approached Apatow to produce. But because Apatow was working on his film Funny People, which overlapped thematically, he declined, so Rogen and Goldberg chose to try their hand at producing themselves. It was a revelation. Now they could manage their work as well as create it. “I’ve grown to appreciate acting in things that we control. I get uncomfortable when I’m involved in something but I don’t control it from the beginning to the end,” he said, citing exceptions, like working with Danny Boyle on Steve Jobs. “When I act in someone else’s movie but I’m not the producer of it, I don’t have a lot of say in how that movie is marketed or presented to the world, and that makes me uncomfortable… The idea of acting in movies we are not producing is a little scary to me at times.” When I observed that he and Apatow haven’t worked together since he started his production company, in 2011, Rogen referred me to Apatow’s cameo in The Disaster Artist and pointed out that Leslie Mann, Apatow’s wife, starred in Blockers, the 2018 comedy that Point Grey produced. When I asked what it was like going from being Apatow’s protégé to his competition, he gently corrected me: Not competition. “Peers.”
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schism would have been wildly out of character for Rogen, anyway. His is not a trail littered with the carcasses of broken relationships. He and Goldberg – the presumptive “we” in all of his conversations about work – have “known each other since we were 12, so we really developed our personalities together in a lot of ways.” And over the years, Rogen has repeatedly collaborated with other allies, including the directors Nicholas Stoller (the Neighbors movies) and Jonathan Levine (50/50, Long Shot), as well as his frequent actor co-conspirators: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Paul Rudd.
His lack of major trauma is something Rogen talks about a lot with his wife, the other enduring, consistent relationship in his life. He and Miller-Rogen, a fellow actor-writer-director, have been together since 2004 – their friends were dating, and it was a semi set-up situation – and married in 2011. Around the time they started hanging out, Miller-Rogen’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and the condition advanced quickly. It was brutal, and Rogen recognised that he had never experienced anything like it in his own life. That lack of personal devastation is something he’s become “very conscious of, especially when you’re married to someone who is constantly, daily living under the crushing weight of it. You get very aware of it very quickly. I have a lot of friends whose parents have died, who’ve had disastrous things happen to them and their family, so I am very aware that I’m very lucky and that I probably have a lot of terrible things coming my way.” Because they’re in their 30s and have been together for ages, people bug him (a little) and his wife (a lot more) about having kids, which, for the record, is something they might do one day. They talk about adopting, but are in no particular rush. “We very much like our lives, so we will continue to put it off, it seems like, for a little while,” he said. “We have a dog. We like the dog a lot.” It’s not the responsibility that frightens them so much as the potential for complicating an already harmonious situation. “I’ve had my friends be like, ‘Yeah, it really was hard on our relationship.’ I’m not saying we couldn’t overcome it, but, again, we really get along and have a very good dynamic. She works very hard, and a lot as well, so when we’re together, we really try to enjoy each other and hang out.” The MillerRogens are domestic animals, more inclined to stay home and crush HGTV or the Million Dollar Listing shows than furiously socialise. Rogen’s understated and somewhat incredulous relationship to fame gives him a certain credibility with fans: He’s a tour guide with a backstage pass, an Everyman moving through hallucinatory worlds – and who can’t, on some level, relate to that? His stories of surreal encounters with public figures – Kanye turning up unannounced at his door one morning, asking him to play basketball; negging Paul Ryan’s request for a selfie, in front of his children; introducing Tom Cruise to the concept of internet porn – kill on late-night TV and Howard Stern by depicting the deranged alternate universe of celebrity (actually a small village where they all know one another) and the various ways its inhabitants can fall out of touch with reality. “I’ve worked with enough actors to know that on the grand scale of actors, I’m pretty well-adjusted,” he said. “I think on the grand scale of humans, I have friends who are constantly reminding me that I have very little insight into the struggles of the average person. It’s not lost on me that there are massive elements of life that I just don’t have to deal with. I’m aware of it, but it limits the amount of true grounding I can have, I think. At the same time, I do think I try to steer away from being a crazy person as much as humanly possible, in an active way.” Weed helps. For 20-plus years, it has been as essential to his daily life as his glasses and shoes – an
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THE NOT-INACCURATE STONER PERSONA CONTRIBUTES TO HIS EASY INTERACTION WITH FANS – IT’S ANOTHER WAY HE’S NOT BULLSHITTING THE WORLD ABOUT WHO HE IS unremarkable habit that’s nevertheless constantly remarked upon. Not coincidentally, it’s also powerful medicine for taming the ego and maintaining cosmic perspective. “Not a lot of people have delusions of grandeur when they’re high,” Rogen agreed. “That’s what cocaine is for.” The not-inaccurate stoner persona contributes to his easy interaction with fans, since it’s another way he’s not bullshitting the world, on some fundamental level, about who he is. “What’s nice is when I meet those guys, who took a picture with me earlier?” he said at Canter’s. “I don’t feel like I’ve lied to those people. That’s probably one of the reasons that they like me, is that they don’t feel I’ve lied to them. That’s a dynamic I like. When it comes to me being a person out there in the world, I don’t care if people think I’m fucking smart or some genius or how hardworking they think I am – the fact that they don’t think I’m lying to them to get them to go see my movies is something I appreciate.”
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he day after Canter’s, Rogen arrived at the Hand of Destiny ceramics studio on Beverly Boulevard for a private session at the wheel. Very quickly, it became clear that he had done this before. He can cone! He knows how to use the shaping tools! It turned out Rogen has taken classes with his wife and finds working with clay soothing: “There’s something that’s so therapeutic about it. It’s like yoga, if you got a thing at the end. If you were doing yoga and then some object was produced at the end of it.” In the time it took me to form one wee, homely vessel, Rogen produced two immaculate, symmetrical ashtray/pot situations. (As followers of his Instagram know, Rogen is an ashtray aficionado and collector.) Destiny, our teacher and a master potter, who I’m pretty sure had no idea who he was, murmured words of praise. To understand how Rogen manages his various silos without collapsing them, I asked him to walk me through his typical schedule. He hesitated; every day is different. That morning, for example, he got up at 6:45 – normal, but the early side of normal – worked out at home, made coffee and sat with his dog. He wrote for an hour on Invincible, a comic-book movie he’s writing with Goldberg, then took a long call about Houseplant, the new cannabis company. Point Grey’s offices recently moved off the Sony lot to Sunset Boulevard, near his house, so after the call he popped over to check in on the edit for the as-yet-untitled comedy, written by Simon Rich, in which Rogen plays dual leading roles. He ate lunch in five minutes and then came here to throw some pots. After this, he was meeting with a storyboard
artist for a movie he and Goldberg are hoping to direct at the beginning of next year. “I’m fully able to bounce, and I quite like it,” said Rogen of all the quick pivots. “Every once in a while it’s a lot, but if I don’t feel overwhelmed and I feel like we have enough time to do everything, then yeah, I find it really stimulating and invigorating. I’m pretty good at compartmentalising, in a non-sociopathic way.” Lately, he’s been examining his own motivations for choosing projects, and sometimes they don’t bear up under scrutiny. “I’ve tried to sharpen my sense in recognising when I’m acting out of hubris and when I feel like I may be doing something just ’cause of how fucking cool I’ll seem once I did it, how smart everyone will think I am once I did it,” he said. “I think as you become successful and famous, gravity will pull you towards hubris and just trying to fly straight is not enough. You have to steer away from it. Because if you just try to go straight, you’ll get pulled into it. And that’s something, even still, every once in awhile, I’m like, ‘We gotta jerk this wheel.’ We’re getting pulled into it slowly, because everyone else around you is like, ‘Yeah, do it, it’s a good idea, here’s money, take it, do it, we want it.’ And you have to be like, ‘No. That’s not a good idea.’” On the other hand, he said, a surplus of confidence can lead to breakthroughs: “It is a fine line, because I do look at Kanye, for example, and I remember the truth is at first, people were like, ‘Why you making shoes, man? Just make music.’ And his shoes are great. People love them. He’s made Adidas billions of dollars. So there is something to be said for staying in your lane, but sometimes people do really great outside of their lane,” Rogen said. “Kanye kept going on about this theatre experience he wanted to make. He wanted a movie to play on eight screens: There’s one in front of you, two above you, two on the side of you and, like, below you. And I did have this thought like, Dude, you have made some of the greatest rap albums of all time, and I’m sitting there, like, Why are you trying to design movie theatres? Just keep making these great fucking rap albums. But who am I to say that? He made shoes that are cool, I like ’em, I wear them sometimes. So it’s something that I look at with myself: How much do you expand? How much do you try new things? How much do you spread your wings, or how much do you stay in your lane? It’s a constant modulation.” Rogen’s ashtrays were finished, and he handed them over to Destiny. As he prepared to leave, I looked at the pots we had just made, neatly lined up on the counter, waiting to be glazed and fired. He was right: It was satisfying to have an object to show for your efforts. But Rogen had no chance to dwell. The clay interlude was over, and he was expected at the next appointment. 121
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The long way round The Mille Miglia, a four-day race that covers 1,600km from Brescia to Rome and back in a loose figure-8 route, has been described as “the most beautiful race in the world”. We call shotgun
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ew things are more Italian than the sight unfolding before me this cold spring morning in Brescia: A string of classic cars are lined up facing the Duomo Vecchio and the Duomo Nuovo (the Old and New Cathedrals) in a sleepy piazza. The crowd that’s gathered to admire them includes silver-haired Italian gents in impeccably cut camel-colour coats, toddlers swaddled in blankets and journalists from across the world. Alfa Romeos dominate the line-up, but there are also vintage Bentleys, Bugattis, Porsches and Ferraris. It’s easy to see why the cars, all produced between 1927 and 1957, elicit so much interest. There are retro colour palettes (Rosso Corsa red, sky blue, pastels); gorgeous typefaces (Superleggera, Giulietta Sprint); exquisite badges (Bertone). There are also elaborate grilles and horns you can toot, frog eye headlights and leather straps that tie bonnets shut. Inside are sumptuous bucket seats and metal dashboards with wideeyed dials and an array of metal toggle switches, giving the cars a distinctively tactile quality. Each car has a story and a personality, oozing character. The drivers piloting these million-euro babies are an equally eclectic lot: bankers and Michelinstarred chefs, a pediatrician and tech entrepreneurs, past Le Mans winners and a smattering of former F1 drivers. Designer Marc Newson is here, as is actor Scott Eastwood, today driving a silver Porsche 550 Spyder, the kind
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James Dean drove. Participants are often decked out in retro gear, donning matching driver’s suits, pilot-style helmets, goggles, leather gloves and custom driving shoes. But this isn’t only a matter of style. Since most of these cars are open, drivers are vulnerable to the elements – rain, snow, blistering heat – as they zing past the Adriatic coastline through national parks, crossing mountain passes and historic city centres, often driving for more than 12 hours a day and completing challenging time trials enroute (the Mille Miglia is a regularity race, rather than an all-out speed race to the finish line.) The route changes a little every year, and this one, on the occasion of Leonardo da Vinci’s 500th death anniversary, passes through his hometown of Vinci. It also goes through Parma, designated the Italian capital of culture for 2020. Along the course of the four days, meals are organised at lesserknown historic sites, including the Loggiato di San Francesco in Fabriano and the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, giving participants the chance to soak in the best of Italian art, cuisine, beauty and design. Chopard has partnered with the prestigious rally since the late 1980s, thanks to co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s passion for both classic cars and racing. He got it from his father, he says, who still takes his car out for a “300- to 400-kilometre” drive after a day’s work, in his 90s. Scheufele nips out of the Chopard VIP Lounge to park the strawberry metallic Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” he’ll be driving later this afternoon with his daughter Caroline-Marie.
When he’s back, he describes the allure of the race. “Here in the Mille Miglia in Italy, the people, the spectators, the cars, they create a perfect synergy, and there is a very special ambience… When you close the door of the car, it’s like stepping into a time capsule. You really begin to understand what it meant to do the Mille Miglia race in those days,” he says. The classic car collector has completed this quirky, obscure race over 30 times: with his father, his wife – before they got married, as well as to celebrate their 10th anniversary – and close friend, the Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, whom he met at the race years ago, and who is present at this edition too. “The segment between Rome and Florence, which takes about half a day, is one of my favourites,” he smiles. “The countryside is just breathtaking. You go up and down, it’s hilly and you cross medieval villages. All along, you have people waiting for you and cheering you on. In the past, we’ve seen that some villages managed to make the Mille Miglia turn to visit them. And it isn’t planned in the roadbook, but this is how far the passion goes.” As the official timekeeper and historic partner, Chopard produces limited-edition racing watches every year that channel the spirit of the rally, with specific design accents that evoke the world of the early days of motor sport and classic cars. Dials are given bright pops of colour that hark back to the racing colours assigned to specific nations. For example: Rosso Corsa for Italy, Speed Silver for Germany, British Racing Green, Vintage Blue for France JULY 2019
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Meet the 2019 Mille Miglia All-Stars
MILLE MIGLIA GTS POWER CONTROL
Race-ready, this elegant timepiece features a blue dial with perforated blue calf leather straps and is powered by a COSC-certified, self-winding movement and a 60-hour power reserve.
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MILLE MIGLIA 2019 RACE EDITION CHRONOGRAPH
Today, though, ambling through Brescia’s city centre feels like walking through an open-air vintage car museum. There is the smell of petrol, the guttural roar of engines, the screech of tyres on cobblestone roads. The city’s ancient arcades are festooned with red Freccia Rossa flags and the celebratory spirit in the air is palpable. But the last word on the enduring appeal of the Mille Miglia in 2019 is Jacky Ickx’s: “It reminds us where we’ve come from. We remember people who’ve opened new worlds, and if you’re a sensitive person, you care about this. Because what you’ve got is what they gave you. If you’re not sentimental, you don’t care, and that’s it. But I think you miss the point. This race is a way to respect those who opened new roads – those who dared.”
With a bold 44mm case, this limitededition beauty with a snail grey dial and cognac leather calf straps is available in steel and rose gold (250 pieces) and just steel (1,000 pieces). Details we love: the retro Dunlop 1960s tyre motif on the watch lining, and water resistance up to 100m, perfect for rainy weather.
THE MILLE MIGLIA CLASSIC CHRONOGRAPH ZAGATO 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Celebrating legendary coachbuilder Zagato’s centenary, it features a sophisticated red lacquer dial with Zagato’s trademark Z motif repeating itself, Freccia Rossa-style hour markers and cool-as-hell leather bund straps.
IMAGE: ©1000 MIGLIA (RACE), SHIKHA SETHI (INTERIOR DETAIL)
and Speed Yellow for Belgium. Crowns are fashioned to resemble old-school steering wheels. Watch straps feature perforations that recall well-worn driving gloves. Every year, as he participates in the Mille Miglia, Scheufele thinks about what the maison can do with the collection in the coming years – how best to preserve this colourful piece of motor sporting history. “A mechanical watch,” he says, “is an antidote to everything electronic and digital surrounding us today, that’s often not longlived. This is something you can take off your wrist, put in your drawer for 20 years and then your son can put it on, wind it, and it’ll still work. It’s only consuming the energy of your body moving. I think it’s one of the most sustainable items a person can possess.” The Mille Miglia, too, is charting new paths with an eye to the future: In September, a preview of the 1000 Miglia Green will be held, including a drive from Brescia to Milan for cars with an electric component in their power unit. In December, a winter version of the Mille Miglia will be reborn: the Coppa delle Alpi. Going through Italy, Austria, Germany and Switzerland, 100 cars will cover over 2,300km of pristine Alpine country and small villages with the most cheerful Christmas markets.
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WATCH
H ur Hour hand? ?
LISTEN UP... LV STYLE
Away from haute horlogerie, Louis Vuitton isn’t neglecting its Horizon smartwatch customer: It’s recently announced its first foray into the world of audio with wireless earphones developed in partnership with Master & Dynamic and available in four colourways, reflecting its iconic monogram design. The charging case has been designed to mimic the shape of the Horizon’s Tambour-inspired case.
R
eading the time from two or more hands tracking a series of numerals, battens or dots arranged around the perimeter of a dial is one way of doing it. But, thank the horological heavens, it’s not the only approach watchmakers have taken. Historically, “jumping hour” timepieces did away with the need for the “small” hand by adding a numerical disc viewable through an aperture in the dial that “jumped” forward every 60 minutes. For its Tambour Spin Time model, however, Louis Vuitton took an entirely different route: using a series of 12 cubes that rotate to display the change of hour (minutes are read in the conventional manner via a central dial). Now ten years old, the technology – developed in-house at Louis Vuitton’s own Geneva atelier, La Fabrique Du Temps – has been given a fresh, ahem, spin, with the Tambour Spin Time Air, named for the way in which the hub and spoke appearance of the movement appears to “float” above the clear case back. All three models in the men’s collection feature 42.5mm white gold cases and are fitted with blue or black alligator straps.
WORDS: BILL PRINCE. PHOTO: DAVID PARFITT (WATCH)
Pah!
Louis Vuitton is transforming timekeeping with the Tambour Spin Time Air
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S D N U O R G D E R C A S
most port’s s e h t walk e. But w about it m a g kno ust a et as j rything you k c i r c e k ev aking r mist you’ll rethin o f n e v i d be forg ground, an You’d d e r sac
I N A SS OC I AT I O N W I T H
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EXPERT SPEAK
WORDS: ABHISHEK MANDE BHOT. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (KAPIL DEV), ALAMY (STADIUM, IAN BOTHAM & BOB WILLIS), MCC (LORD'S EXPERIENCES)
Lord’s is home to other sports, besides cricket: The ground also houses a tennis court, and has hosted a baseball game and even archery (during the 2012 Olympics). The most ducks in an ODI (8) ever happened here in the 1979 World Cup, between England and West Indies – where Sir Viv Richards also scored a century
T
hey say there are a lot of great walks in sport, but there’s a case to be made that few compare to the experience of walking out of the pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground. It’s where underdogs India beat heavyweights West Indies to win the 1983 World Cup. It’s where Sourav Ganguly famously took off his shirt when India beat England in the Natwest series final in 2002. And, more sombrely, where Ian Botham returned, after scoring a pair in the 1981 Ashes, to a roomful of members refusing to acknowledge his presence, and walked back in complete silence. Botham counts it as among the worst feelings of his life. He never captained England again, but returned to the next game with such a sense of purpose, the series came to be known as Botham’s Ashes. Fact is, when you walk down the two flights of stairs that lead from the dressing room to the iconic Long Room, you don’t just follow in the footsteps of greats, past and present, but also become part of something far bigger than yourself. It’s what reminds you that cricket isn’t just a game, and Lord’s isn’t just a cricket ground. Conveniently, Beyond the Boundary, a new tour experience launched by Lord’s, takes you down that very path – one that saw a gangly Kapil Dev emerge as an icon in a country starving for one and a young Ganguly set the tone for modern Indian cricket. Many confess feeling a chill every time they walked down those steps and through those hallways. It’s one of the three new exclusive tours launched by Lord’s to offer cricket fans an insider’s view of the legendary institution. The tours are hosted by
Clockwise from left: Kapil Dev hoists the 1983 World Cup trophy at Lord’s; Ian Botham and Bob Willis at the 1981 Ashes; A Lord’s tour experience includes interacting with former cricketer John Emburey
three former England cricketers, Mike Gatting, John Emburey and Angus Fraser, who will narrate their memories of the ground. Players’ Dining Room Experience offers a threecourse meal in the room where cricketers dine on match days. Here too, Gatting, Emburey and Fraser take turns hosting the meal and sharing wartime stories. But it’s Hat-Trick that’s a cricket fan’s dream come true. This tour rolls up the other two experiences for a four-hour marathon: You don’t just get to meet and dine with a cricket great in the players’ dining room, you also get to walk along with him onto the turf. Each of these experiences includes the traditional tour of the ground, as well as the viewing of the famous Honours Board – which doesn’t include the name of one Sachin Tendulkar, who never managed to score a century or get a five-wicket haul here. It’s easy to call Lord’s the home of cricket – indeed, the folks over at Lord’s do that. But think of it, really: Lord’s is to cricket what Ferrari is to cars, Sinatra to music, Shakespeare to, well, the English language. You can’t imagine one without the other. And to have watched Sinatra live, to have driven a Ferrari, to have been in the Globe, is to have lived life itself. So too it is with Lord’s, which stands at the heart of a game that’s come to represent decency and fair play. And so, in this greatest summer of cricket – with the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Ashes, Women’s Ashes and domestic and county championships all packed into one glorious season – it seems apt to pay homage to the mothership. For more information, visit lords.org
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POWERPLAY
THE FINISHER
MS DHONI
INDIA VS SRI LANKA, 2011
Every match has that player – the one that susses out his opponent’s weaknesses, and smashes it out of the park to save the day. These men did just that when it counted the most: at a World Cup Final
GOLDEN BALLER
WASIM AKRAM
PAKISTAN VS ENGLAND, 1992
With 15 wickets leading up to the 1992 Final, Akram’s left-arm seam exploits were crucial to Pakistan’s campaign. Against England in that 134 —
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last match, he put on an even more outstanding performance, one that netted him the Player of the Match award. He first dismissed Sir Ian Botham for a duck. Even with that setback, England settled in, and looked to be cruising to victory. When they were at 141/4, Imran Khan reintroduced Akram into the attack.
Almost instantly, the skipper got what he wanted: Akram dismissed set batsman Allan Lamb with a delivery that completely missed him on its way to the stumps. And then did the very same thing in the next ball, to Chris Lewis – virtually destroying England’s run chase, and chance for the trophy.
WORDS: ABHISHEK NAIR IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
HERO WORSHIP
A Final that saw many impressive performances from the boys in blue, Dhoni’s in the second innings was probably the most spectacular. India lost both openers very early on chasing 278, but saw some hope in a young Virat Kohli and a composed Gautam Gambhir, who anchored things. But then the ball started to turn, and Kohli lost his wicket to Dilshan in the 22nd over, leaving India at 114/3. That’s when Dhoni unexpectedly walked out, promoting himself above the in-form Yuvraj Singh. With nerves of steel, he stood his ground against the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan. And once the time was right, he switched gears, putting India right in the driver’s seat with an unbeaten knock of 91 – including the trophy-winning maximum.
MASTER CLASS
ARAVINDA DE SILVA
SRI LANKA VS AUSTRALIA, 1996
Perhaps one of the best all-round performances in a World Cup ever, de Silva almost single-handedly won Sri Lanka the 1996 Final. He gave his team a breakthrough during Australia’s batting not once, not twice, but three
THE IMPOSSIBLE CATCH
KAPIL DEV
INDIA VS WEST INDIES, 1983
HISTORY-MAKER
CLIVE LLOYD
WEST INDIES VS AUSTRALIA, 1975
It was the Final of the first ever Cricket World Cup. The teams: Australia and West Indies, two giants of the game, and also two very evenly matched sides. All that was needed was someone to step up and be the differentiator. That someone was Lloyd. The Windies, batting first, were down 28/2, thanks to the pace and swing of Gary Gilmour and Dennis Lillee, when “Big C” came out to bat. Not only did he show exemplary patience in the beginning, he switched gears towards the end, playing an innings that’s considered impressive even in today’s T20 style of play. Scoring at a strike rate of 120, something unheard of at the time, Lloyd took his team to an impressive 291 (in 60 overs), contributing 102 off just 85 deliveries himself. West Indies would go on to defend their total by 17 runs, etching their names in the history books forever.
At 57/2 chasing 184, two-time champions West Indies were on course for a third straight trophy. The legendary Sir Viv Richards had settled in at the crease, maybe a little too comfortably, when he nicked a Madan Lal delivery up in the air. The ball travelled towards the boundary – but so did Dev, who leaped up as it went sailing over him, and somehow took the catch. The crowd, who’d been at the edge of the ropes, ran onto the ground in joy (literally). That moment triggered a batting collapse, and West Indies fell 43 runs short of the target, giving India their first World Cup.
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
ADAM GILCHRIST
AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA, 2007
Sri Lanka were arguably the favoured team of this edition, their bowling attack one of the most lethal in the competition, and one to be feared. No one gave Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist that memo for the Final – a match reduced to 38 overs a side due to rain delay. Both openers went to town, playing vintage attacking strokes and galloping to 172. While Hayden fell at 38, Gilchrist made 148 off 104 deliveries, including eight huge 6s. His performance would set the tone for the game, as Australia took home a third straight (and fourth overall) trophy.
times: picking up the crucial wickets of Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Ian Healy, and helping to restrict the Aussies to 241. When Sri Lanka got off to a rocky start in the chase, and found themselves at 27/2, de Silva stepped up once again. His was a perfect outing on cricket’s biggest stage, as he scored a clinical century, remaining unbeaten to the end. The trophy was well-deserved.
POWERPLAY
You’ve spent the past five months cheering on your favourite limited-overs teams. Now, it’s time to give a different format of the game a go
I
t seemed almost natural – the progression from the IPL, arguably the world’s biggest 20-over extravaganza, to the World Cup, the biggest international 50-over tournament. But what happens once the kings of ODI (preferably us) are crowned on July 14? For those who prefer international competitions to the domestic leagues that pepper the cricket calendar, here’s something to look forward to: the first ever World Test Championship, which is putting the game’s most traditional format firmly in the spotlight. Historically, Test cricket has been played as a standalone contest, never towards a common goal. The World Test Championship is now attempting to provide perspective to this traditional format – and, in the process, help it find more relevance for today’s fastpaced generation of fans. This is not the first time that the ICC has attempted a Test tournament. Back in 1909, the then-called Imperial Cricket Conference created a Future Tests Programme: England, Australia and South Africa, the three Test-playing nations at the time, would play each other in England in 1912. Unfortunately, the
(Left) Jasprit Bumrah was instrumental in India’s historic Test series win against Australia last December; (Below) A new way to watch cricket: from a fieldside pool at The Gabba in Brisbane, Australia
one-sidedness of the contest and a wet summer turned the whole affair into a damp squib, with World War I bringing the FTP to a definitive end. There were more attempts over the years: the Asian Test Championship in 1998-1999 and again in 2001-2002, which failed due to political tensions between India and Pakistan; and a four-year edition that was meant to commence in 2009, but was postponed to 2017, and then again. This edition looks good to go: a two-year league phase in which all nine top-ranked Test teams will play each other, with the two best meeting for a final on June 10, 2021, in England. And how better to tee things off than The Ashes – a contest that predates even the modern Olympics? England are itching to lay their hands on the coveted urn they relinquished to Australia a year-and-a-half ago. As for India: Virat Kohli & Co travel to the US and the West Indies to play all three formats (the Tests will be part of the Championship), host South Africa in October, Bangladesh in November, Australia in January, and then travel to New Zealand in February. Which all just means: Things aren’t slowing down any time soon.
WORDS: ABHISHEK MUKHERJEE. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
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How to ace life
Unlock your potential – and define your Code WRITTEN BY PRAKASH AMRITRAJ
A
s Vijay Amritraj’s firstborn, I grew up with a racket in my crib, hearing legendary stories of how my father did India proud on the world stage – not just in terms of tennis achievements, but in the way he represented the nation and the hope he gave Indians around the world. By 18, I’d won the National Junior Championships in America (becoming the first Indian to do so) and had earned entry into the Men’s Singles category of the US Open. I’d received MVP honours in the Final of the NCAA Championships as I led
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my University of Southern California team to a national title. Between 2003 and 2008, my tennis career had seen me rank as India’s No 1 singles player, reach the Singles Final of an ATP World Tour Event, represent India in the historic Davis Cup, as well as compete in all the Grand Slams, including on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon. But by 2010, I hadn’t even completed one full year on the ATP World Tour. My career had been marred by injuries that kept me from building momentum, and ate away at my love for the game. After an injury to my right wrist (I’d already had surgery on
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (PRAKASH), COURTESY PRAKASH AMRITRAJ (SERENA)
Having a Code is what allows you to hit 110 per cent of your potential in every aspect of your life: professional, personal and social my left wrist), I decided to take a break from the game and focus on my other passions: acting and film. But I was leaving with my relationship to the game broken – incomplete, unfinished and unhealthy. It was at that personal nadir that I met Venus and Serena Williams, and my life changed forever. Over 1990s karaoke jams, some incredible meals, intensely competitive games of left-handed tennis (all three of us are right-handed!) and all-night dance-offs, I had a FROW seat as they battled to add title after title to their collection. I got to know the rest of their family too, having long conversations with their lovely sisters Isha and Lynn, as well as their mother Oracene and their trailblazing father, Richard Williams. I began to understand how these remarkable individuals, who’d come from difficult circumstances in Compton, California, had reached such dizzying heights, completely rewriting the history books on what was possible in terms of race, gender and the human spirit. I found myself exploring how they approached things versus how I did. I recall Venus once telling Serena before a particularly high-stakes counter: “If you don’t do it for you, do it for me... Die on the court.” It became evident that “family” and an unshakeable “belief in oneself ” were the paramount driving forces of their lives. I realised how vital the latter is – so many of us are crippled by what others think of us. It certainly handcuffed me from reaching my potential through my early 20s. I saw that so much of the Williams’ fulfilment and success came from superhuman effort, plus undying belief. That spoke to me. Effort plus belief is how I’d achieved everything I was proud of in my life. But could I take that further? Venus’ words, and spending time with the Williams family in those years, sparked off my “Code”. Not long after, I made a comeback to the tennis tour, fuelled by more focus and self-belief than I’d ever had before. I found myself playing the best tennis of my career, transforming strokes that were once weaknesses into strengths and achieving levels of fitness I didn’t think possible. This initial part of my journey helped strengthen my Code, until a final
reconstructive shoulder surgery took me out of the game and I jumped back into the entertainment world – for good. But this time it was with great satisfaction, and a healthy love for the game. So, how does one arrive at their Code? To me, it’s a set of foundational principles you believe in so strongly, at the highest level, that it trickles down into every single decision you make on a daily basis. For me, it makes waking up at 3am to train possible, because part of my Code is “using physical training to grow the mind, body and spirit”, as well as “gratitude”. Thoughts that propel me to achieve this task are “how thankful I am to be healthy”; and “gratitude for the sacrifices of my grandmother, who overcame near-death and near-total paralysis to make the dreams of her children, and grandchildren, come true”. Suddenly it isn’t that hard to get out of bed. Having a Code is what allows you to hit 110 per cent of your potential in every aspect of your life: professional, personal, social, parental. Apart from “foundational principles”, a Code is made up of traits in the individuals we admire, and who motivate us. All these factors then influence a daily structure – everyday undertakings of a physical, mental and dietary nature, because these set the stage for our lives. As we know, our habits make us. Now, each person’s Code will be different – a Rubik’s cube of our experiences, roots, beliefs, goals, intentions and truest gut feelings. It’s a daily inner search to refine one’s Code. But it’s a process that’s amply rewarding. I invite all of you to join me on this journey to unlock your true potential. Let’s begin with identifying one “foundational principle”. Pick something that’s really important to you. One example is: “Surrounding yourself with energy that uplifts you”. Then choose a “daily task”: It could be “waking up 15 minutes earlier”. We are going to lay the foundation of your Code with these two bricks. And, brick by brick, like me, you will eventually scale new heights. Prakash Amritraj is an actor, film producer and sports broadcaster. Follow him on Instagram @prakashamritraj
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DESIGN SHOW S AV E T H E D AT E
Over three days in October last year, the biggest names in art, architecture and design could be found under one roof, at the first AD Design Show—a spectacular display of craft, design and artistry. This year, the AD Design Show is back in October with the best in art, craft and design from around the country—and the world. FOR ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT ADDESIGNSHOW@CONDENAST.IN
ANNOUNCING THE SECOND EDITION OF THE AD DESIGN SHOW
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hero Large, luxury SUVs usually aren’t allowed to sport halos. Unless they’re made by Volvo
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W WORDS: PARTH CHARAN N
T
his thing shouldn’t feel this light. I mean, for all intents and purposes, this is a nearly two-anda-half-ton SUV, but there’s still a certain levity that’s as logic-defying as it is unsettling. Yet another reminder of why the Volvo XC90 is one of the greatest passenger cars of all time. Except this one’s greater, thanks to being the only full-sized, plug-in hybrid SUV in the market. The reason the car feels significantly quicker than an XC90 in standard form is because this, the XC90 T8, gets the combined power of a supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol motor, and an electric motor. Volvo calls this a “Twin-Engine setup”, thus giving you a radically different driving experience, along with bragging rights of having a bona fide luxury SUV with the emissions of a garden mouse.
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XC90 T8 Excellence
ENGINE 2.0-litre, petrol + electric motor POWER 320bhp (front), 87bhp (rear) TORQUE 640Nm (combined) TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic PRICE `1.25 crore (exshowroom, Mumbai)
HOW DOES IT WORK? Unlike most hybrids in the market, this is a plug-in, which means it requires an external power source to charge the 87bhpstrong electric motor that works the rear wheels. Sure, 25 per cent does get charged through excess kinetic energy (read: regenerative braking), but it’s not enough to go the entire 35km that the SUV can do in pure Electric mode. Up front, the engine makes an incredibly healthy 320bhp, the supercharger and turbocharger splitting duties and taking charge of the bottom end and mid-range of the power band, respectively, and sending power to the front wheels through an eight-speed, automatic gearbox. The combined output of a sufficiently charged electric motor and the petrol engine put out a whopping 407bhp, turning this otherwiseposh and sedentary wagon into a stealthy, streamlined javelin. Volvo’s SPA platform, on which both the current-generation XC90 and S90 are built, has been designed keeping electrification in mind, so the front axle isn’t connected to the rear via a propshaft. Instead, that space is utilised with a lithium-ion battery, which, in turn, sends power exclusively to the rear wheels. Volvo allows you to modulate power via different driving modes: Pure electric is exclusively for Electric mode, while Power mode uses all the juice that both motors have to offer, lowering ride height, adding a fairly powerful spring in the car’s step and, just like the car’s AWD mode, absorbing power from both the axles. Hybrid mode alternates between the petrol and electric motor, for maximum efficiency. HOME SWEDE HOME The T8, in this particular Excellence trim (picture), isn’t quite the family car the standard XC90 is known to be. For an admittedly steep `1.25 crore premium, you get the fanciest bits from Volvo’s luxury vault: two individual reclining seats at the back covered in perforated Nappa leather, while the entire cabin is a nice mix of leather and alcantara. JULY 2019
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DRIVE
The centre console that divides the two rear seats also gets a cavity that can store your elixir of choice, along with two handcrafted Oreffors crystal glasses Volvo likes to throw in with this car. The brand’s new interior design language is refreshingly minimalistic yet indulgent, with swathes of organic birch wood and a large, button-free touchscreen interface that controls one of the best sound systems in the business. Even the gear knob gets a crystal treatment, although it’s the least ergonomic feature in the car, requiring repetitive thumbing in order to move from Reverse to Drive. Still, this is the uncluttered, new-age face of Swedish opulence, and it feels dramatically different from its competition. BOY SCOUT The XC90 T8 is tasteful in how 146 —
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(Above) Volvo provides two charging stations that can charge the battery in 2.5 hours by connecting it to a 220V wall socket; (Below) A touchscreen console and crystal glasses are about as plush as Volvos get
plush it is, and even though it’s a large, imposing block of luxury mobility, its hybrid status makes it a fairly conscientious choice. The added benefit of fuel efficiency makes it a tempting one. There’s something extremely soothing and, dare I say, benevolent, about the XC90 – its crease-free design and softened edges mask its sheer size, giving it a very friendly countenance. Amid the constant chaos of urban traffic, the T8 is a tub of serenity and calm, never losing its composure, never announcing its presence in an ostentatious manner. It’s got every characteristic Volvo trait. Except, it also possesses a certain eagerness, a propensity for hairtrigger throttle responses that lie underneath its otherwise-placid demeanour. And that, in particular, sets it apart from the fray, making it not only a sensible choice, but also a compelling one.
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
"amid the constant chaos of urban traffic, the t8 is a tub of serenityand calm, never losing its composure, never announcing its presence in an ostentatious manner"
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FORCES ofFASHION STARRING DILJIT DOSANJH, KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN, NATASHA POONAWALLA & KARAN JOHAR
DRIVE
This is Italy’s
fastest ever hypercar. Want to guess what it’s powered by?
The artiste coachbuilder that shaped countless Ferraris, Lancias and Maseratis has flicked the switch on a car of its own: the all-electric, 1,900bhp Pininfarina Battista
I
f you accept that automotive design is a legitimate art form – no question – then Battista “Pinin” Farina has contributed more to this branch of human endeavour than anyone else. He is the lodestar, the Picasso or Warhol. Even New York’s Museum Of Modern Art had to acknowledge his influence: There aren’t many cars in its permanent collection, but Farina’s Cisitalia 202 is one, a deceptively simple-looking little coupé that set the entire automotive industry on a new aesthetic path when it appeared in 1947. And this at a time when Italy was still picking its way through the rubble of war, its factories decimated. Cisitalia would be a footnote were it not for Farina’s company, Carrozzeria Pininfarina,
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reimagining the body as a single volume, rather than a series of conjoined elements. Pre-war, other designers had been playing with this form and early forays into air-cheatingly streamlined bodies pointed the way (including Pininfarina, in 1937 with the Lancia Aprilia Aerodinamica). But the 202 was something else, its aluminium panels hand-beaten over a wooden buck to set the template – perfect proportions, propulsive volumes to generate a sense of speed, minimal decoration. Pininfarina went on to be fêted by kings and presidents and from 1952, until very recently, clothed almost every single Ferrari, among numerous other Alfa Romeos, Lancias and Maseratis. The company now has tendrils that have taken it into furniture, bridges, buildings,
WORDS: JASON BARLOW. EDITED BY: PAUL HENDERSON
trains and aerospace. But ironically, this great automotive couturier has never actually created a car of its own – until now. And the Pininfarina Battista is named in honour of the man who started it all. A new company, Automobili Pininfarina has been created in parallel with the Pininfarina SpA mother ship, with a plan to sell a total of 150 Battistas at a cost of approximately `17.5 crores each. It might look like a generic – though mesmerisingly beautiful – mid-engined hypercar, but it’s pushing the form to the outer limits. Not least because the Battista is purely electric and shuns the emotional but increasingly anachronistic internal combustion engine in favour of zero emissions and superficially guiltfree ultra-performance. Producing the equivalent of 1,900bhp, it can claim to be the most powerful Italian road car ever made. Zero to 62kph takes less than two seconds, 186kph is up in under 12 and the top speed is likely to be 250kph, with a projected range of 300 km from the batteries, assuming you’re not travelling at warp five everywhere. A superfast charging system will replenish the batteries to 80 per cent capacity in just 40 minutes. The body is made of carbon fibre, with the batteries housed behind the occupants and along the sides in a T-format. The electrical architecture is being co-developed with another EV outfit, the Croatian firm Rimac (itself 10 per cent owned by Porsche and said to be consulting with numerous manufacturers on this fastmoving technology). As you’d hope, given the price and provenance, the interior is swathed in the finest materials, although, as the product of what’s billed as the world’s first sustainable luxury car company, nontraditional techniques are being explored. “Pininfarina’s mission is to design cars that are innovative, pure, simple, elegant,” chairman and Battista’s grandson, Paolo, tells me. “This project was a great challenge because we are designing for ourselves here, so we want it to be Pininfarina 110 per cent. It’s not a negotiation or a compromise: This is us. Why should you be attracted to a Pininfarina car? Because it’s beautiful, it has harmony, it’s innovative but has classic qualities. Electrification is the future.” Ask him why Italy historically outranks every
other country in car design terms and Paolo revs up an interesting theory. “It’s a matter of people. My grandfather, Battista, was an outlier, one in a million. To succeed as an outlier you need three things: talent, commitment and to be born at the right moment and in the right place. He was born in 1893, in Turin, surrounded by other talented people who were exploring the future of the car. With these things, success came.” The story runs deeper though, and it’s ironic that Pininfarina’s first own-brand car only exists because this Italian legend was sold to Indian behemoth Mahindra in 2015 for `370 crores. The company’s executive chairman, Anand Mahindra – a graduate of Harvard’s film school rather than a hard-boiled businessman – is enabling a plan that might well have continued to elude Pininfarina on its own. “The [Battista] will enable us to fulfil our vision of participating at the pinnacle of automotive design,” he says. “Luxury is the meeting point of heritage and craftsmanship; it would take 90 years to build what Pininfarina has.” The bigger picture here is as compelling as the car itself. Mahindra believes that car ownership will follow three paths during the next few decades: an autonomous, fully electric one in which simple utility is key; cars for recreational use; and “cars that are bought purely because they are objects of desire, out of passion for performance and beauty.” Secondly, Automobili Pininfarina will license the hardware from other companies to avoid crippling investment in proprietary technology – the asset-light business model of which Apple is the most profitable exponent. It’s unlikely the Battista could exist otherwise. That said, it’s still channelling some old-fashioned magic, as chief designer Luca Borgogno says. “This was the most important part of the first briefing: It has to be beautiful. Look at the cars in our museum: What really strikes you is the purity and beauty. Purezza e bellezza.”
Pininfarina Battista ENGINE Four electric motors generating 1,417KW (1,900bhp) TOP SPEED 420kph (claimed)
PERFORMANCE 0-100kph; under 2sec PRICE `17.5 crore (minus taxes)
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H I T Bright, blinding tailoring is having a moment. Cash in on it like global supermodel Sean O’Pry
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PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARCUS OHLSSON STYLED BY TOBIAS FRERICKS
M A K E R S
BLAZER, SHIRT, TURTLENECK; ALL BY PRADA OPPOSITE: SUIT, SHIRT; BOTH BY COMME DES GARÇONS HOMME PLUS
SUIT, SHIRT; BOTH BY GUCCI
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SUIT, JUMPER; BOTH BY VERSACE. SNEAKERS BY ASICS
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VEST, SHIRT, TROUSERS; ALL BY LOUIS VUITTON
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SUIT, T-SHIRT, BOOTS; ALL BY PHILIPP PLEIN
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SUIT, VEST; BOTH BY DIOR MEN
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SUIT, SHIRT; BOTH BY MICHAEL KORS PHOTO ASSISTANTS: SEBASTIAN MCCLUSKEY, DAVID GILBEY GROOMING: MICHAEL HARDING CASTING DIRECTOR: STEPHAN DIMU MODEL AGENCY: VNY MODELS PRODUCTION: GIULIA ZUCCHETTI DIGITAL TECH: MAX ROVENKO
The 1960s Rounds Sophisticated and cool, a pair of round sunglasses will make you look equal parts erudite and effortless. Perfect for those with more angular jaws and square face shapes, opt for something in tortoiseshell if you have a fair complexion, or a fine metal frame if your colouring is darker. SUNGLASSES BY DOLCE & GABBANA
TIME E
Right now, it’s all about eyewear that takes its cues from decades past. Whether it’s the neat little rounds of the 1960s or the souped-up shades of the 2000s, we’ve got your specs covered WRITTEN BY TEO VAN DEN BROEKE PHOTOGRAPHED BY COLIN ROSS
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SET DESIGN: MAYA LINHARES-MARX
FRAME
The 2000s Wraparounds Sporty, slick and a little bit sexy, wraparound dad glasses finished with oil-on-water lenses are back in a big way. For the best of the bunch, look to Carrera and team it with sharp tailoring for a surprisingly effective contrast. These frames work best on defined faces, and look extra good with facial hair (who knew?). FROM TOP: SUNGLASSES BY PRADA, CARRERA, DOLCE & GABBANA
The 1980s Wayfarers Understated and smart, with a sporty edge, a pair of rectangular Wayfarerstyle sunglasses (think Tom Cruise circa Risky Business and you won’t go too far wrong) are a season essential. Great for those with oval or round faces, which the edges of the styles pictured will complement. FROM TOP: SUNGLASSES BY DIOR MEN, OLIVER PEOPLES, RAY-BAN, HACKETT
The 1970s Aviators A great all-round style, look to Jim Morrison for inspiration. Your Aviators should be oversized and finished in shades of brown, gold or sepia. Aviators are great for those with heart- or diamond-shaped faces, as the form will accentuate the swoop of your jawline. FROM TOP: SUNGLASSES BY BOSS, GUCCI, PRADA, DOLCE & GABBANA
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WOMEN GONE WILD Condé Nast Traveller’s Wildlife & Safari Supplement 2019 spotlights the women who protect our forests and wildlife
COMPLIMENTARY SUPPLEMENT WITH THE AUGUST SEPTEMBER 2019 ISSUE
For advertising queries please contact cnt.advertising@condenast.in www.cntraveller.in
cntravellerindia
@CNTIndia
@cntravellerindia
WHERE TO BUY
The products featured editorially have been ordered from the following stores. Prices and availability were checked at the time of going to press A Acqua Di Parma Available at Maison Des Parfums Adidas Mumbai, 022-2282 2737; Delhi, 011-4573 4261; Bengaluru, 080-4091 5678 Asics Mumbai, High Street Phoenix, 022-4004 2820; Delhi, Select Citywalk, 011-4076 906; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6288 Automobili Pininfarina automobili-pininfarina.com B Bally Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4053 4149 Balmain balmain.com Barneys New York barneys.com Birkenstock birkenstock.com Boss Mumbai, Palladium, 022-2491 2210; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4604 0773; Bengaluru, 080-2520 7200
PHOTO: JIGNESH JHAVERI
C Calvin Klein Available at nykaa.com Calvin Klein Jeans Mumbai, 022-2648 4794; Delhi, 011-4108 9582; Bengaluru, 080-4098 6229 Carrera carreraworld.com Chopard Mumbai, 022-2288 4757; Delhi, Johnson Watch Company, 011-4151 3121; Bengaluru, Zimson, 080-4098 2100 Christian Louboutin Mumbai, 022-4347 1787; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4101 7111 Coach Mumbai, Palladium 022-2491 2210; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4927 0626; Bengaluru, 080-4865 1744 Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus comme-des-garcons.com D Diesel Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4004 6050; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4087 0072; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4173 8001 Dior Men Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4600 5900 Dolce & Gabbana dolcegabbana.com; (Fragrances) Available at Parcos Dries Van Noten driesvannoten.be Dunhill dunhill.com
E Emporio Armani Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4347 3211; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 0114604 0783; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4146 9333 F Forest Essentials forestessentialsindia.com G Garrett Leight garrettleight.com Givenchy givenchy.com Grenson grenson.com Gucci Mumbai, 022-6747 7060; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4647 1111 H Hackett London Mumbai, Palladium, 82860 15010; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4108 7388; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4149 0999 Hermès Mumbai, 022-2271 7400; Delhi, 011-2688 5501 Hidesign Mumbai, 022-6654 1615; Delhi, 011-4087 0047; Bengaluru, 080-2544 0535 I Infinite Luxury Delhi, 011-4698 0000 J Jo Malone Mumbai, Palladium, 022-6237 5537 K Kama Ayurveda kamaayurveda.com Kérastase kerastase.in Kiehl’s kiehls.com Kunal Rawal Mumbai, 97696 47696 L Lacoste Available at Parcos Louis Vuitton Mumbai, 022-6664 4134; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4669 0000; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4246 0000 L’Occitane loccitane.com L’Oreal Barber Club Available at amazon.in M Maison Des Parfums Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4003 3233 Maison Kitsune maisonkitsune.com
Maison Margiela maisonmargiela.com Marks & Spencer Mumbai, 022-6666 9807; Delhi, 011-4670 6550; Bengaluru, 080-2309 4062 Massimo Dutti Mumbai, Palladium, 022-6237 0731; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-0259 5333 Michael Kors Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4002 8040; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4056 3703 Montblanc Available at Parcos Mr. Leight mrleight.com N New Balance Mumbai, 74200 22859; Delhi, 74200 20446
Parcos Mumbai, 022-6639 9286 Paul Mitchell paulmitchell.com Paul Smith Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4006 5089; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4604 0734; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4173 8882 Paul Stuart paulstuart.com Philipp Plein plein.com Phy thephylife.com Prada prada.com R Rado Mumbai, 022-6743 9856; Delhi, 011-4357 5253; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4098 2107 Ray-Ban ray-ban.com
O Olive Available at sephora.nnnow.com Oliver Peoples oliverpeoples.com Onitsuka Tiger Mumbai, Palladium, 022-6237 7512 Organic Harvest organicharvest.in Ouai Available at sephora.nnnow.com
S Sabah sabah.am Sabyasachi Mumbai, 022-2204 4774; Delhi, 011-2664 4352; Bengaluru, 080-4112 1088 Scentido Mumbai, 022-6747 9600 Scotch & Soda Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4347 4094; Delhi, 011-4087 0514 SSS World Corp sssworldcorp.com
P Panerai Mumbai, 022-2642 6241; Delhi, 011-2687 4050
T The Body Shop thebodyshop.in
The Face Shop Available at nykaa.com The Man Company themancompany.com Tod’s Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4242 1818; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4666 2700 Tommy Hilfiger Mumbai, Palladium, 022-6610 8880; Delhi, Ambience Mall, 011-4087 0041; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6361 Truefitt & Hill truefittandhill.in Tudor tudorwatch.com U Under Armour underarmour.com V Valentino valentino.com Vans Mumbai, Phoenix Skyzone, 022-6615 3152; Delhi, Ambience Mall, 011-4087 0151; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6158 Versace Available at Infinite Luxury Volvo Cars Mumbai, 022-6669 6969; Delhi, 011-4327 7100; Bengaluru, 080-4545 1414 W Widian Available at Scentido Z Zara Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4542 1800; Delhi, DLF Promenade, 011-4513 7124; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6121 ZJM Exports zjmexports.com
LUXURY, FASHION, TRAVEL AND GROOMING IN STANDOUT STYLE
What’s inside?
Spirit of the land
A collection of luxury resorts in Karnataka, Evolve Back brings you holidays steeped in the lore of the land. While their Chikkana Halli Estate, Coorg, is located in a 300-acre coffee plantation, Evolve Back Kuruba Safari Lodge, Kabini, draws you into the vibrant tapestry of its nature and local tribes. And Evolve Back Kamalapura Palace, Hampi, with its stone-paved boulevards and arched hallways, recreates the regal past of its land.
Jockey – leading innerwear label – presents its International Collection. Featuring exquisitely soft and supremely stylish trunks, this collection is all about craftsmanship and luxurious fabrics. Designed for the man who will settle for nothing but the best – inside or out – the highlights of this collection include the super-soft Tactel® nylon, elastane fabric, abstract prints and a metallic-style waistband. Perfect for a date night – we’d like to believe that it will boost your inner confidence. Priced `319 onwards. Available at exclusive Jockey showrooms, leading retail outlets across
India and on jockeyindia.com
Wearing pride
Price on request. For reservations, call +91 80 4618 4444 or visit evolveback.com
This year, Polo Ralph Lauren partners with Stonewall Community Foundation to unveil its gender-neutral Pride Collection, along with a campaign that celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to these communities around the world. Comprising graphic tees, Polo shirts, hoodies, totes, baseball caps and more, featuring the iconic pony in rainbow stripes, the collection is available in a flurry of sizes for men, women and children. Price on request. Available on ralphlauren.com
Sporting Time Mane reclaim
Advanced Hair Studio, the world’s largest hair replacement, restoration and retention company, announces Sourav Ganguly as its brand ambassador to mark 10 successful years in India. During an exclusive event at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, the brand also celebrated how it has been driving awareness across suburban markets about the different ways to address hair loss conditions. Since 2018, 10 camps with teams of experts offering personalised solutions have catered to more than 300 customers across South India. For more information, visit advancedhairstudioindia.com 164 —
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Get ready for the Fossil Sport Smartwatch – the brand’s first-ever timepiece based on Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 3100 and Wear OS by Google™. It boasts several new technologies like extended battery life, battery saving mode, enhanced ambient mode, integrated heart rate, as well as NFC and GPS capabilities. While it lets you track your fitness, its sleek, ultralightweight design and colourful silicone straps make it the perfect style accomplice. Priced `17,995. Available across all Fossil stores and authorised sales channels in India. For more information, visit fossil.com
Rare timepiece
Staycation time
Take a vacay without leaving the city at Trident, Bandra Kurla and Trident, Nariman Point in Mumbai; Trident, Hyderabad; Trident, Chennai; Trident, Gurgaon; or Trident, Bhubaneswar. Think complimentary breakfasts, best-in-class amenities, exquisite culinary offerings, relaxing spas, swimming pools, fitness centres, recreation options and a host of amazing benefits to ensure you have a memorable stay.
The Tropical Bird Repeater is an allnew limited-edition watch by Jaquet Droz. Celebrating nature, its motherof-pearl dial springs to life with a hummingbird, peacock, toucan, butterfly and waterfall as well as a few dragonflies, some tropical flora and more. It also features 180 baguette-cut diamonds, invisibly set in the centre of the dial to play the role of the sun. Also, the lugs are set with an unprecedented 36 baguette-cut diamonds.
Price on request. Available at Johnson Watch Co.
Valid until September 30, 2019. Make your reservations on tridenthotels.com, email reservations@tridenthotels.com or call 011-23904473/ 1800 11 2122. For more information, visit tridenthotels.com/ hotel-offers/trident-staycations
East meets West
Introducing KURTEES, a new menswear label that’s kickstarting a trend and bridging the gap between ethnic and contemporary styles. In an effort to provide comfort and style, it combines the diaphanous cut of the kurta with the casual familiarity of the T-shirt to give you the best of both worlds. These all-weather fashion statements are crafted from 100 per cent organic cotton jersey fabric and are available in turtlenecks, V-necks and crew-necks, button-up Henleys and more, all in an array of solid colours, stripes and prints. Priced `1,999 onwards. Available on kurtees.com
Missing Bombay?
Spritz to explore
Montblanc Explorer is a fragrance that tells the story of adventures, quests of excellence and explorations around the world. The top notes burst with OrPur® bergamot, French sage and pink pepper. Followed by heart notes of leather and Vetiver, it rests on a base of patchouli, cocoa, Ambroxan™ and Akigalawood®. Held in a bottle that’s wrapped in a leather-like sheath, which bears the Saffiano motif, it also adorns the brand’s signature star.
Priced `6,750 (100ml) and `5,100 (50ml). Available at Parcos and leading departmental stores
Relive its charm at the Bombay Coffee House. While the ambience rustles up the nostalgia of days past with black and white photos, rustic furniture, ambient music and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, the menu includes 20 varieties of hot and cold coffee, milkshakes and iced teas; favourites like masala chai and sev puri; international dishes like Penang curry, pastas and French croissandwiches; and an array of desserts.
Available in Mumbai at Bandra, Ballard Estate and Kurla. Follow @bchbombay on Instagram and @bombaycoffeehouse on Facebook JULY 2019
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Humour
ILLUSTRATION: HAYLEY PHELAN
The Instagram of Sisyphus
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