Ali vs Holmes. Evert and Navratilova. Maradona, Mandela and Mike Tyson. And Sachin Tendulkar. Beginning this Sunday, a weekly series of award-winning films by ESPN on these and other sporting greats will be broadcast on the SONY ESPN channels network. The docu-films, never before broadcast in India, include those by award-winning directors and form part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series.
The first film, on November 27, is The Two Escobars, the tragic story of Colombia's footballing star Andres Escobar who was murdered after his mistake led to an own goal during the 1994 World Cup. The other Escobar in the title is the drug lord, Pablo; he was a huge football fan and the film explores the links between crime and the sport.
The 16th Man, scheduled for the following Sunday, is the real-life version of the film Invictus, which looked at how Nelson Mandela inspired South Africa's rugby team to win the 1995 world cup. That film starred Morgan Freeman, and he is the narrator for this documentary.
Subsequent films to be shown include Muhammad and Larry, the story of the Ali-Holmes fight in 1980 that The Greatest lost; Maradona 86, about how one footballer dominated the 1986 World Cup; and, on January 8, Little Master, about Sachin Tendulkar's quest for the world cup in 2011.
The films - which air on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD every Sunday at noon - offer a unique ringside look at sport and sportspeople, the emotions and sub-plots of the world they inhabit. A must-watch for sports fans.