BEIJING, Nov. 30(Xinhuanet)-- The first Chinese musical in four decades opened in theaters in Beijing on Wednesday.

"Perhaps Love" is a passionate work by renowned Hong Kong director Peter Chan Ho-sun. The film is framed within a romantic triangle, switching between 1930s and modern China.

"It's a traditional Chinese love story, but I try to find a new way to tell it instead of just a straight narrative," said Chan.

Chan said he had never expected to stage a come back with a musical after his last project"Comrades, Almost a Love Story" in 1996.

"But I thought music is a more powerful way to convey emotions-- happiness, hatred, jealousy and regrets, all of which can be found in'Perhaps Love'," said Chan.

With a budget of 10 million US dollars, this is Chan's first work shot on the Chinese mainland. It brings together some of renowned stars: Hong Kong singer and actor Jacky Cheung, Chinese actress Zhou Xun, Taiwan-born Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Ji Jin-Hee, an actor from the Republic of Korea.

"I think the mainland market is very important and such a cast will attract an audience here," said the director.

Chosen to close the prestigious Venice Film Festival in September this year,"Perhaps Love" was also designated to represent Hong Kong in the hope of receiving an Oscar nomination for best foreign film.

Chan made his name familiar to mainland movie goers with his breakout film"Comrades, Almost a Love Story", also a romance. It won nine awards at the 1996 Hong Kong Film Awards, including best picture and best director. Enditem