It‘s not only Sony Entertainment that is bidding to push sporting spectacle on its entertainment channels. If Sony will be pushing ICC cricket on its SET and MAX channels, the Star Network is doing its own little number on Star World and Star movies. Star has announced boxing specials next week on two of its general entertainment channels - Star Movies and Star World.

Reigning three-time world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis defends his title against Mike Tyson on Star Movies on 9 June live at 6:30 am with a repeat at 9:30 pm. Meanwhile, Star World is all set to pay tribute to boxing legend Muhammad Ali on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The Muhammad Ali 60th Birthday Celebration airs on the channel on 4 June at 9 pm.

Hosted by Will Smith, who played the boxing legend on screen in Ali, the one-hour special was taped at the new Kodak Theater in Hollywood, the venue of the Academy Awards in March this year.

Joining Smith to present film clips of Ali‘s legendary career are film stars Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding, Jr, Samuel L Jackson, Sidney Poitier, Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, John Travolta.

CNN chat show host Larry King and Layla Ali, the boxer‘s daughter will also be present on the occasion. The show includes musical performances by India.Arie (Strength, Courage & Wisdom), Mariah Carey (Happy Birthday), Natalie Cole (This Will Be) as well as a special message from boy band NSYNC.

After a long hiatus, Mudra Videotec, the television software production and marketing arm of advertising major Mudra Communications is all set to renew the golden relationship it shared with Doordarshan in its halcyon days.
After soap Shayad Tum, it has now announced the launch of a new daily soap to be launched from 3 June on DD National.

Mera Humsafar, concieved and written by experienced film and TV professional Vinod Pande, is a moving tale of a single mother and her mentally challenged daughter. "The serial potrays the adversities faced by the family in life and how they cope with these with dignity and determination to finally emerge victorious", says Pande, who has earlier written and directed several hit DD shows including Air Hostess, Reporter, Ek Kahaani and Detective Pradhaan.

An inspiring saga, it hopes to educate people about dealing with a common and socially stigmatized problem of having a special child. Mudra Videotech creative consultant Abhigyan Jha says viewers, bored of "saas bahu" dramas, need a change. "If you study the top 10 shows on DD, you can see that they belong to different genres."

An upbeat Mudra Videotec CEO Kaushik Roy too seems pretty confident of the success of Mera Humsafar. "Within a short span, we have made a meaningful comeback with relevant and popular programmes on air. We are proud of our association with Vinod Pande and Mera Humsafar has all the potential of being a new trendsetter on TV," he says.

Mudra has in the past produced some of the most succesful shows on Indian television such as Buniyaad, Udaan, Rajani and Chunauti among others. It has developed 11 projects in the last six months, prominent among them the sucessfull, Shayad Tum starring Shekar Suman and Mandira Bedi.

Roy says Mudra has taken on the challenge of a different theme consciously and is willing to face the risk. Roy‘s stand seems to be in place since Godrej, Johnson & Johnson, Dabur, Colgate, Nirma and Kunwar Ajay sarees have already come on board. Mera Humsafar stars Abhimanyu Singh potraying Jeeten and Barkha Madaan as Poonam, the female protaganist.