A university topper and gold medallist, with a doctorate in Bio-chemistry, Mrs. Mohana Krishnaswamy has published several post-doctoral research papers in various scientific journals and is a winner of Hari Om Ashram’s Gold Medal for research in Ayurveda. If this is her scholarly face, the other facet to her personality is that of a producer of 30 TV Serials and around 200 Documentary films. She is the winner of the IFUW International First Prize at Helsinki, for directing ‘How They Left Hell Behind’, on women’s empowerment and of the Creative Excellence Award at the US International Film & Video Festival for two other productions, besides two Awards for the Best Tamil TV Serials. A linguist, fluent in half a dozen languages, she is the Chairperson of Krishnaswamy Associates Private Limited, Chennai.

Being a trained Bharata Natyam dancer and a Hindustani vocalist, Dr. Mohana has been as much involved in the Arts as in Science. Her active involvement with documentaries, commenced with the Hindi dubbing of her husband Dr. S. Krishnaswamy’s internationally acclaimed, Four-hour documentary INDUS VALLEY TO INDIRA GANDHI (the first Indian film distributed by a Hollywood company – Warner Bros). From supervising the translation of Dr S Krishnaswamy’s English script into Hindi to direction of the Hindi dubbing this was done by Dr Mohana. Even as the Hindi dubbing work had just commenced, Mrs Indira Gandhi was tragically assassinated. Mr Rajiv Gandhi desired that the Hindi version should be telecast during the mourning period. Dr Mohana faced the challenge and completed the dubbing within nine days to enable Doordarshan to telecast the Hindi version on time.

Dr Mohana initiated diversification in Krishnaswamy Associates (which was till then specializing in documentaries) by producing Television Serials in Hindi as well as Tamil. The Hindi serials needed her personal attention with creative involvement besides being the producer. She pioneered the production of Hindi TV serials with a Tamil ambiance such as the Costume drama UPASANA based on the ancient Tamil twin-classics Silapadikaram and Manimegalai. She also produced Sri Aurobindo’s SAVITRI, as a stage show and as dance-drama for television, which won the Award for Creative Excellence at the US International Film & Video Festival.

Under her initiative, Krishnaswamy Associates conducted a Four-Day SATHBAVANA UTSAV – a Festival of dance, music and video screenings devoted to Communal Harmony at Chennai in 2003, which the company plans to replicate not only in Chennai but also as a festival traveling to the other cities. In recognition of this contribution, Dr Mohana was conferred the INDIRA PRIYADARSHINI AWARD by International Economic Development Forum in New Delhi on Indira Gandhi’s Birthday 2004.