HONG KONG, Sept 16 (AP) -- China's most famous directors have grabbed the world's attention with serious films about opera stars, concubines caught up in vicious rivalries and families enduring the turmoil of the nation's early communist years -- the stuff that wows the art-house crowds.

But Feng Xiaogang has chosen a lighter, more commercial path.

His recent movies focus on an increasingly cosmopolitan and wealthy China. The characters chat on mobile phones, drive BMWs and star on TV shows.

"Big Shot's Funeral" (2001) is a comedy about a Hollywood director's personal crisis while filming a remake of "The Last Emperor." "Cell Phone" (2003) follows the breakdown of a philandering TV host who juggles calls from different girlfriends.

The lanky, chain-smoking Feng didn't train at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy, which has churned out some of China's most famous directors, including Chen Kaige, who did "Farewell to My Concubine," and Zhang Yimou, who made "Raise the Red Lantern," "Ju Dou" and "To Live."

The 48-year-old director started out as a designer for an opera troupe. He moved on to television, then film. His filmmaking was shaped by years of experience _ not, as Feng puts it, the "art-house, experimental" fare favored by film students.

"I get the feeling his brain never stops working. It's always churning," said Zhou Xun, an actress who has worked with him.

Feng speaks with the business savvy of a movie company executive ("When the budget has reached a certain scale, investors aren't willing to invest without the North American market ...") and when he talks about the Academy Awards, he doesn't mention artistic issues. Instead, he discusses how an Oscar delivers great marketing for foreign films.

He also displays an understanding of global demographics. "For North America, they need things to be more straightforward. They hope the story and narrative are even simpler, the relationships between characters aren't that complicated," Feng said.

Feng's new movie "The Banquet," a US$15 million epic adaptation of "Hamlet" set in ancient China that stars Zhang Ziyi, was scheduled to be shown Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival. Among his collaborators: composer Tan Dun and production designer Tim Yip, both Oscar winners for their work on the Ang Lee hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Directors Zhang and Chen are moving more in Feng's direction, mounting mainstream productions such as "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Promise."

And they may be motivated partly by Feng's commercial success.

Feng's movies did better at China's domestic box office than famed fellow Chinese director Zhang in 1999 and 2000, according to statistics in the recently published book "Who Created the Miracle of Chinese Film."

The combined ticket sales of Zhang's two 1999 movies, "Not One Less," and "The Road Home," totaled US$4.8 million; Feng's "Be There Or Be Square" alone grossed US$4.9 million. Feng's release in 2000, "Sorry Baby," crushed Zhang's "Happy Times" -- US$6.3 million to US$628,000.

Feng offers a succinct summation of his philosophy on favoring popular acclaim over critical praise from jurors at film festivals.

"There are so many viewers around the world. Your fate won't be doomed when a few people don't like your movie," he said.

Film scholar Michael Berry of the University of California at Santa Barbara said Feng represents "a very different mode of entertainment filmmaking."

"His popularity and themes dealt with in his work is a clear and tangible sign of China's economic and cultural transformation," Berry said.