Sammi Cheng back with new film after fighting depression

Love Contractually stars Sammi Cheng and Chang Hsiao-chuan. [Photo provided to China Daily]

After a brief hiatus, Sammi Cheng returns to her familiar zone－Hong Kong-style romantic movies－with Love Contractually.

The movie, which debuted on the mainland on Tuesday, pairs her with Chang Hsiao-chuan, who's among Taipei's finest actors.

Cheng stars as a company executive who refuses to trust men because she sees them as cheats but draws up a crazy plan that includes paying a large sum of money for the right sperm donor so she can have a baby.

Cheng, 44, started out as a Cantonese pop singer and moved to acting in the early 1990s.

"Having a child through sperm donation has become an open topic of discussion (in China) in recent years, but the movie develops it more dramatically, in an interesting and funny way," she says.

Unlike her previous hits, such as Love on a Diet and Everlasting Regret, the new movie features the megastar in a more highhanded role.

"As I haven't acted in a romantic comedy for two or three years, most people see this movie as my return (to the genre), but I took it up more as a new challenge," Cheng says.

With millions of copies of her music albums sold, and nearly 30 movies and dozens of awards later, Cheng has become a symbol of the golden era of Hong Kong's entertainment industry. She is among the most popular celebrities in China and her influence extends to countries in Southeast Asia.