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Documentary Creations

At the heart of Shanti Academy is a passion for and commitment to producing richly captivating and thought-provoking multi-media creations that educate, move and inspire – and unite us all regardless of culture, color or borders.

Official selection 2023 laurels black

Colonial Interlude – The Nottusvara Sahityas of Muthuswami Dikshitar

Writing and directing by Kanniks Kannikeswaran

Colonial Interlude Play Thumbnail

This breathtaking film traces the musical journey of Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835) through various sacred sites and explores the contrast between traditional raga-based compositions and the nottuswara sahityas (songs with Sanskrit lyrics written to Western tunes). Featuring footage from temples, festivals, and interviews with folk music performers from the Cincinnati area, the film offers a view of 18th-century European tunes that traveled across the world and took on varied forms in India and in the United States.

  • Won best Documentary Film Award at the 2023 Boston Indian Film Festival.
  • Premiered with accolades as the closing film, and won the Best Documentary Film Award at the 2023 Cincinnati Indian Film Festival.
  • Screened at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC and in venues in the Bay Area CA, Dayton OH, and Phoenix AZ .
  • Screened at the National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai, India; The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London UK; Singapore; and in other venues in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, India.


The Ohio Arts Council provided the seed grant for the creation of Colonial Interlude.

"...an extraordinary story that I knew nothing about. It has really changed my view about music making and the power of music to bring people together."
Maestro John Morris Russell
Maestro John Morris Russell
Director of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
"The work that Dr. Kannikeswaran is doing is invaluable in that by the capacity of forging these fusions, by allowing the richness of our musical tradition to engage with the richness of Western musical traditions, we have brought the wealth of our knowledge and our traditions to audiences around the world.” Ms Sripriya Ranganathan - Deputy Chief of Mission"
Ms Sripriya Ranganathan
Deputy Chief of Mission - Embassy of India, Washington DC

Yog Darshan – The Story of Yoga

Conceptualization, script, music composition,
and production by Kanniks Kannikeswaran

The story of the history of yoga is fraught with a litany of controversies. Amid cultural appropriation and indignant defensive rhetoric, we attempted to tell a story that is inclusive; one that includes all work that reflects that philosophy and practice of yoga in two of the most ancient Indian languages: Tamil and Sanskrit. Covering the Upanishads, the Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Tamil Tirumurai literature, the songs of the Siddhas and more and with voices and visuals from all over India, it was possible to narrate a compelling story in a powerful and gripping musical documentary.

"Words are inadequate to express the aesthetic joy in this work. A simply beautiful creative program."
Padma Bhushan Dr. R. Nagaswamy
Padma Bhushan Dr. R. Nagaswamy
(1930 - 2022), Historian and Archaeologist
"This is amazing! Thorough research on the roots of yoga presented with incredibly beautiful videography. And bringing together so many wonderful singers to express the soul of yoga through music!”
Dr. Shriram Sarvotham
Dr. Shriram Sarvotham
Yoga Master