Hallmark tried a different tack for promoting its Mother's Day specials this year.

At a bash last weekend, they roped in Aditi Gowitrikar, Fleur Xavier, Shaina Chudasama, even Jackie Shroff and John Abraham to talk about the mother who had always been there for them.

The event at downtown Mikanos began with a showreel, specially shot for the evening, featuring Kajol, Pooja Bedi, Esha Deol and Abhishek Bachchan along with Shobhaa De's children speaking about their star moms, clippings of which the channel will use in its promotions.

Also honoured were Vandana Gupta as the Hallmark Channel Woman of the Year- a cancer survivor herself, who set up 'V care', a voluntary organisation that helps cancer patients, and 'W! Womanpower' editor Priti Kumar who was joined by Suhag Khemlani, a young window cleaner who runs a company worth Rs 25 million and Isabelle Courier Guillard, an Air France Pilot.

While Crown Media chief executive, Asia, Terence Yau terms Hallmark as a family channel about relationships and touching stories, Asia marketing director Laxmi Hariharan said that the Channel is privileged to celeberate women icons who have become part of the Indian tradition by having their very own children thank them for the diference they have made to their lives.

The celebrations will continue with a week of Mother's Day movies that are being telecast on Hallmark from 12 May to 19 May.