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S. Krishnaswamy, Pioneering Indian Documentarian, Dies in Chennai

His landmark Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi reached global audiences through rare Warner Bros distribution, anchoring a six-decade chronicle of India's evolution.

Overview

  • The filmmaker died on December 28 in Chennai after being treated for a heart ailment, according to his daughter.
  • Most reports list his age as 87, though one obituary reports 88, creating a minor discrepancy.
  • He was best known for the four-hour Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, which traced roughly 5,000 years of history and secured international release via Warner Brothers.
  • A Columbia-trained documentarian, he founded Krishnaswamy Associates in 1963 and tackled sensitive subjects from Operation Blue Star to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.
  • Honors included the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Dr. V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, with tributes led by Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram.