Baby Driver , running to full houses even a month after its release, is many things. It is a mean caper film, a romance, a Tarantino homage, (for the last time, it is not a rapid fire sequel to The Boss Baby ), an action film and also a musical.
Baby is a talented driver who suffers from tinnitus; he drowns out the sound with music. The movie features wall-to-wall music, including ‘Brighton Rock’ by Queen, ‘Debora’ by T. Rex and ‘Baby Driver’ by Simon & Garfunkel. There are interesting conversations around music and driving too. From Tom Sawyer to Yossarian, there is a romance to lighting out, and if it is shot in 70mm set to groovy music, then all the better. As Debora, the pretty waitress Baby falls in love with, says, “I can’t wait until the day when it is just us, music and the road.”
Hollywood on a song
Movies have celebrated the road with music. While there are road movies featuring stunning music, there are also flicks of different genres that toast a journey with music. In Twister (1996), while everyone was transfixed by the floating cow, there were those who dreamt of chasing a storm to the sound of Deep Purple’s ‘Highway Star’, complete with screaming guitar riffs from tower speakers on the roof of a van.
Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (2000) was a road movie about a rock band, and naturally featured the cream of pop and rock music, from The Who and Led Zeppelin to The Beach Boys and David Bowie.
Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), the landmark counter-culture film, was as much about drugs and choppers as it was about music. There was The Band, The Byrds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Bob Dylan was asked to contribute, which he did in his idiosyncratic style by writing the first verse of ‘Ballad of Easy Rider’ which was completed and performed by The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, who also performed Dylan’s incendiary ‘It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ for the movie.
Both music and the road play important parts in Quentin Tarantino’s films. From Dusk to Dawn (1996), written by Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez, starts off as a road film which later morphs into a horror film. It featured music by ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Death Proof (2007) about a wicked stuntman who likes to run down women with his souped-up car mainly featured music from other films.
My favourite Tarantino moment that melds music and automobiles is in Pulp Fiction (1994) when Vincent Vega (John Travolta) takes Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) out for a night about town. They go to Jack Rabbit Slims, a ‘50s-themed restaurant, where car interiors are redesigned as booths. There is the famous twist competition where Vince and Mia set the floor on fire to the tune of Chuck Berry’s ‘You Can Never Tell.’
George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) showed the way to take on the post-apocalyptic world riven by shortages was to hit the road with a flame-thrower guitar. Junkie XL’s soundtrack hit all the right notes in the multiple Oscar-winning film.
Bollywood in tune
While automobiles are not worshipped the way they are in Hollywood, journeys are an important trope. And since our movies are all about song, there are some lovely ones celebrating journeys. From Rajesh Khanna singing ‘Zindagi Ek Safar’ to Hema Malini in Ramesh Sippy’s Andaz (1971) to Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna singing ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ in Farhan Akhtar’s eponymous 2001 debut.
Gulzar once told me a lot of his ideas have come while driving and that travelling relaxes his mind. And travel is an important motif in his works. Considering Gulzar is one of our most lyrical filmmakers, music is not far behind. So you have Jeetendra singing ‘Musafir Hoon, Yaaron’ in Parichay (1972) and ‘Dhanno Ki Ankhon Mein’ sung by long-time collaborator RD Burman in Kitaab (1977). Of the many songs on tracks, the most famous could well be Shah Rukh Khan getting jiggy with Malaika Arora in Dil Se .
The road and rail met when Rajesh Khanna sang ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani’ from a Jeep, while Sharmila Tagore was travelling in the little toy train reading Puppet on a Chain in Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana (1969).
On the road with Amitabh Bachchan includes the homo-erotic ‘Yeh Dosti’ in Sholay (1975), his kinetic introduction scene in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) as he laughs in the face of death on a bike singing ‘Rote Hue Aate Hain Sab’ and he was also part of the road film, Bombay to Goa . Young hearts would always run free to the sound of music, whether it is Rani Mukerji singing ‘Jadoo Hai’ to Aamir in Ghulam or AR Rahman’s ethereal score in Gautham Menon’s Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada last year. Let the music play on.
