If a man wants to find the perfect wife, how many women should he date? The answer is 12, according to New Year comedy Call for Love.

Middle-aged office worker Xu Lang (played by Xu Zheng) ends his seven-year marriage and starts a new life dating 12 beautiful women from each of the 12 horoscope signs. The man enjoys his dates as he deals with the difficulties of marriage and the harsh realities of life.

Chinese actor Xu Zheng, who plays the role of the Hong Kong property developer in black comedy Crazy Stone, is the lead actor in this film.

"Dating 12 beautiful women in the film has been fun but dealing with 12 women has also been hard work," he joked at the Beijing premiere last Thursday.

The 12 beauties include some of the most famous women in Chinese showbiz, including TV hosts, actors, singers and models. Taiwan actress Annie Yi and mainland actresses Fan Bingbing (Cell Phone), Qin Hailu and Ning Jing (In the Heat of the Sun) play some of the 12 women.

In the last few years veteran director Feng Xiaogang, who is famous for his glib and ironic dialogue, has lead the field in the production of lunar-new-year movies (hesuipian, movies to greet the traditional New Year). Since Feng turned his focus other genres, like his martial epic The Banquet (2006), the hesuipian market has dried up.

Call for Love is the only Chinese comedy to be released over this year's Spring Festival. Director Zhang Jianya says that he hopes the movie will signal a return to the original Chinese lunar-new-year movies.

Screenwriter Liu Yiwei, who is also a famous TV host, said he would have liked to play himself in the film. "I regret missing the opportunity to date these 12 women even if it is just a film," he joked.

Call for Love will be officially released on DVD on February 15 with English subtitles by CAV Warner Home Entertainment Company.

(China Daily February 16, 2007)