José Saramago's All the Names

...In order to reach it, it might still be necessary to fight the dragon. This one does not have furious, drooling jaws, it does not snort smoke and fire through its nostrils, it does not roar loud as any earthquake, it is simply a waiting, stagnant darkness, thick and silent as the ocean deeps...

Senhor José, the protagonist of All the Names, thinks to himself, a thought flickering on his mind over outcomes of his dark deed, an inexplicable obsession about a woman, who is an absolute stranger to him. Can't say that it's a great book but I could not put it in bad reads altogether, either. There were some portions which I felt were little more than ordinary. May be I need to read some more of his work to appreciate better. Perhaps, all is not lost when you are left with neutrality. Although, there is a quote in the book that made a lot of sense:

After all, we were not born on this earth, only to connect with God.

Delhi Belly

Next few paragraphs are strictly about Delhi Belly/ Aamir Khan and why it was such a below ordinary effort from otherwise acclaimed minds in Bollywood. If you have really enjoyed the movie, you may not like to read what I have to say. Just close the browser tab and leave.

The movie is replete with fart and number 2 jokes. I get it, but how many times, not the entire 80 minutes. Darn it. Move on man, what else you have got? Nothing really. Weak story line, loose plot, childish screenplay, desperate attempts to make audience laugh. Ceiling collapsing, diamond packet mix-up with stool sample. I get it, the attempt was to fill the scenes with fart noises, display of filthiest toilets. Clever? No. Far from it. A little too desperate to your face but failed attempt in so many ways at so many levels. Unless audience is assumed as a bunch of college kids only who 'loved' 3-Idiots just so much and wanted to take that experience one step ahead. Sure, it would have worked. But it didn't for me. It might be working for a specific target section. And that would be the obvious guess from this effort.

It has become clear to me, once the names are popular like Aamir Khan, anything he packages with his brand name it becomes a hit, irrespective of substance. Yes, comedy movie can be classy too and that is where Delhi Belly failed (so had 3-Idiots) on an epic scale. It is strange that he is the same guy who gave us Taare Zameen Par or Peepli Live for that matter. But again, brains behind both these movies were different than Aamir Khan, he just happened to get all the limelight. He does it with such finesse that people are drowned in his aura of front facing that it makes it appear that it's all his effort. And he is the only man who is lugging the talent van in Bollywood.