‘Eat Drink Man Woman’ sequel to promote vegetarianism

NEW DELHI - The first film left one hungry for Chinese and Taiwanese delicacies with its lip-smacking portrayal of cooking methods, while its sequel will promote vegetarianism, says Taiwanese producer Hsu Li-Kong, whose sequel of his 1994 hit “Eat Drink Man Woman” goes on the floors next month.

“The sequel of ‘Eat Drink Man Woman’ is called ‘So Far Yet So Near’. The movie is going to be all about vegetarianism. Since it is about eating and drinking, so there will be a lot of food on the table in the movie,” Hsu, 65, told IANS during a recent visit to the capital.

“That is what is happening in the world right now. People are turning to vegetarianism and organic food and are becoming health conscious. So the movie is all about food. We’ll even show food decorated in different shapes, sizes and designs.

“It’ll come out next year during the Chinese New Year and we’ll start shooting Sep 15 onwards this year,” he added.

Directed by Academy award wining Ang Lee, “Eat Drink Man Woman” was about the story of an aging chef and his three daughters as they manage to find love in their dull lives. It starred Sihung Lung, Chien-Lien Wu, Kuei-Mei Yang and Yu-Wen Wang, Ah Lei Gua and Sylvia Chang.

Asked if Lee would return to direct the sequel, Hsu said: “No it is some other director this time as Lee doesn’t like to do the same kind of thing again. Also he he is busy with his next project ‘The Life of Pi’.”

But do the actors reprise their roles?

“The actors too will be different in this movie. Only one of the actress will be the same. We will have actors from Hong Kong as well in this one,” Hsu said.

“There will be three heroes and three heroines. This movie will also have tango and a professional cast for the same. The champion of the international Tango competition too will be a part of the movie,” he added.