S. Krishnaswamy in February 2025.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Internationally acclaimed documentary and television filmmaker S. Krishnaswamy, who produced over 900 non-fiction films, including the famed Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, passed away on Sunday evening at a hospital in Chennai. He was 88.
He had been under treatment for a heart ailment and visited the hospital in the evening, said his daughter Gita Krishnaraj. He is survived by his wife Mohana Krishnaswamy and children Latha Krishna, Gita Krishnaraj, and Bharat Krishna.
Born in Chennai (at the time, Madras) on July 15, 1937, to iconic film director K. Subrahmanyam and lyricist Meenakshi Subrahmanyam, he joined Columbia University in the U.S. in 1960 and studied mass communications with a special reference to documentary films. He founded his firm Krishnaswamy Associates in 1963.
His magnum opus, Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, a four-hour film traversing 5,000 years of subcontinental history, was released in December 1976. It was shot in 100 locations across the country and the rights for its international distribution were bought by Warner Brothers.
Among his works were Unknown Freedom Fighters (1978); Rajaji (1979); Kamaraj (1981); With Apologies to Tagore (1987), a five-minute, hilarious portrayal of the state of the nation with animation; Jaya Jaya Sankara (1991), a film on the Kanchi Math; and Reality Behind Religion (1992), which emphasised the need for brotherhood and understanding among the followers of various religions.
His films covering political leaders included those on R. Venkataraman and C. Subramaniam, both released in 2002, and M.G. Ramachandran in 1984. In the 1980s, he made films on the complex problems of Punjab and Sri Lanka, highlighting the operations of the Indian defence forces. The subject of electoral reforms did not escape his imagination, which was reflected in Who loses when India wins (2006).
Awards received
In 2009, he received the Padma Shri and in 2020, the Dr. V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to documentary films at the Mumbai International Film Festival.
He also won the Honor Summus Award of the Watumull Foundation, Hawaii, in 1987 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival, Los Angeles.
He authored several books, including one brought out by The Hindu titled Voyages Retraced: India’s Influence in East Asia in February 2025. The book gave an insight into ancient India’s impact on Southeast Asian countries, and a phase in history when Indian sailors travelled to countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, and became conduits for spreading Indian culture, architecture, and fine arts to these countries over centuries. It was a narrative of his travels between 2005 and 2010.
He co-authored the book Indian Film with Erik Barnouw.
During the writing of the book, the authors camped in Darjeeling where Satyajit Ray was filming his Kanchenjunga.
Tracing India’s influence in East Asia by S. Krishnaswamy
Published – December 28, 2025 10:21 pm IST
