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Robin Williams : An Obituary


Robin Williams died on 17th August, 2014. It was a suicide, apparently. An actor primarily known for his comic abilities died a tragic death. Depression caused it, some assessed. No one disagreed but for the people who saw him on celluloid only. His fraternity, the people from Hollywood, moaned incessantly and this time, everyone agreed. It was a massive loss. Those who were close to him always knew that Robin was having a deadly feud with the demon known as depression. He succumbed to it, however, is something people will always rue over in times to come for he resembled the bravest in this mortal world. Robin was a genius, one of a kind and no other actor of his generation had the ability to transform himself/herself so effortlessly like him between camera takes.

I saw many obituaries of Robin in the days to follow and noticed one startling fact which was hard to stomach. I would call it a faux pas determinately. They all labeled Robin as a great comedian….even Obama couldn’t agree anymore with these analysts. However, it wasn’t a truth and at least I am the one averse to it. No doubt he was unsurpassed by few when it came to delivering comic punch-lines but there was always something more to him than that. Apart from various Oscar nominations and awards which he received in his glitteringly illustrious career (winning an Oscars is an important criteria to judge greatness, though it often overlooks the likes of Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Peter O’Toole among many), he also had a great flare for dramatic affairs. ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ was one such brilliant performance followed by more excellent outings in ‘Dead Poets’ Society’, ‘Awakening’, ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ and ‘Insomnia’. In the latter most, he even bettered Al Pacino, the very paragon of acting excellence, what’s to say more. Similarly, ‘The Fisher King’ was an underappreciated movie but Robin’s performance was otherworldly in it.

‘Carpe Diem’, a Latin Phrase was popular in America among social scientists, educationists and whatnots before the times of Robin but it became a jargon after Robin uttered them in an atypical way in ‘Dead Poets’ Society’. ‘Seize the day’ it means in English and Robin did exactly that till the day he breathed his last.
Adios, my friend !!!!!

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