It's fate. Director Jingle Ma Chor-shing's first movie as a cinematographer was Passion, a romance directed by actress-filmmaker Sylvia Chang Ai-chia. More than 20 years later, the pair have reunited in Happy Birthday, a romantic film that will hit the screen next Thursday.
Based on a short story by actress-singer Rene Liu Ruo-ying, with a script penned by Chang, the film is about unrequited love.
It stars Liu and Louis Koo Tin-lok as lovers who never really get together despite being attracted to each other.
'In the end, the story is about fate,' said Ma. 'It's like when you are ready for someone but she is not ready to accept you. Then when she is ready, you already have someone by your side.'
The film takes the veteran director back to his favourite genre - romance. His 1999 romance Fly me to Polaris ran for the best film gong at the Hong Kong Film Awards and made Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi an established actress.
'In a sense, a romantic picture is harder to make than an action film,' said Ma, who is also renowned for his slick action films, such as Seoul Raiders.