CHENNAI : Grown-ups keep telling award-winning documentary filmmaker S. Krishnaswamy that they saw his film `Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi' in school, a constant reminder that he has been around for a while.

Hopefully, the average age of his viewers will come down a decade or two with 11 of his documentaries now available on the Net for free viewing. In an attempt to make his work more accessible, his company Krishnaswamy Associates, with over 40 years of making documentaries and TV serials, is providing free access.

The documentaries narrate the history of the country and some of its prominent citizens. They tackle serious topics -- `India 5555' on five millennia of civilisational values, five centuries of political history, five decades of democracy and five years of a new economic policy.

Mr. Krishnaswamy said this is not a revival of old cinema; it's not in the league of golden oldies like `Bobby.' "The films are for researchers. They have a niche audience. But so far, there has been no mechanism to ensure we can reach all of them," he told presspersons here on Tuesday.

Many of the films have never had a theatrical release in India as distributors were reluctant. However, after the considerable attention they received abroad, Mr. Krishnaswamy kept getting queries about his documentaries. Streamed through Rajshree Media, Mumbai, the documentaries may be accessed on the Krsihnaswamy Associates website www.kaplindia.net. More will be added to the list from a repertoire of 400 documentaries.

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