GQ India – August 2019

VIBE

I

t begins like all big-money

family drama: The patriarch

of a family that runs a media

empire is dying and his throne

is up for grabs. Except, unlike

Lucious Lyon’s enterprising, if not

hard-headed, children on Empire,

Roy Logan’s kids aren’t just

rich, they’re also brash, brutal

and often quite daft. In Season

2, eldest son Kendall persists

in fucking over Dad, despite a

rather low success rate thus far.

In creator Jesse Armstrong’s

hands (who once wrote a script

on the Murdochs, and whom you

know better through his work

on Veep and Fresh Meat), this

variety of television is shot with

a heavy dose of satire. Watch it

for the many vicarious pleasures

it offers: of seeing the uber-rich

scramble for control; of deliveries

full of sass and epic put-downs

(like only the rich know to do);

and for the feels of ripping

apart a million-dollar cheque for

no reason other than plain old

spite. Hotstar

SCREEN THIS

This month’s cinema is all about wayward teenagers and

ageing action figures

FILM

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

DIRECTED BY GURINDER CHADHA

British film folk can’t seem to stop

paying tribute to their favourite

musicians this year. After Freddie

Mercury, Elton John and The Beatles,

Bend It Like Beckham-famous

Gurinder Chadha turns to The

Boss to tell another British-Asian

story. Inspired by the life of British-

Pakistani journalist Sarfraz Manzoor

(as documented in Greetings From

Bury Park), this one takes us back to

1987 Luton and one Javed’s (Viveik

Kalra) coming-of-age journey,

helped along by the forthright poetry

of Bruce Springsteen. This is going to

be one singalong fest.

SCARY STORIES TO TELL

IN THE DARK

DIRECTED BY ANDRÉ ØVREDAL

Based on the unforgettable

short stories by Alvin Schwartz

from 1981-1991, and produced

by the inimitable Guillermo del

Toro, this horror flick features

(obviously) a group of teenagers

who must visit the abandoned

house they chance upon, and

are immediately drawn to, of all

things, the frail book of monsters

they find there. Demons are

unlocked and their problem is

now everyone’s problem. Luckily,

they stick around long enough to

carry the scars forever.

ALL IN

THE

FA M I LY

The one-percenters are in

trouble in HBO’s Succession

TV

FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS & SHAW

DIRECTED BY DAVID LEITCH

Buddy cop movies have a long history of unexpected pairings – think Turner

& Hooch; Starsky & Hutch, the utterly strange Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

Compared to Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty – a collab no one asked for

• the coming together of Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham is almost late.
  Prep the popcorn for a proper sledging match and blowout, and watch out for
  a “cyber-genetically enhanced” Idris Elba, as if there could be such a thing.

50 — AUGUST 2019

WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA