With a production budget of $1.5 million, "12 Lotus" reunites Qi Yi Wu and Mindee Ong in an age-worn tale of love and betrayal, against a backdrop of poignant hokkien songs produced and composed by renowned musicians Eric Ng and Xiaohan.

Joining the cast this time round is veteran Medicorp actor Huang Yiliang who plays the abusive father of Lian Hua (Mindee’s character). Huang who is notoriously known for playing estranged, loud characters on the TV screen can’t be more impressed by Royston’s directing skills.

Qi Yi Wu who in recent times has ventured onto the big screen with "Home Song Stories" and "The Leap Years" seem to possess more ‘star’ appeal than before. Working with Royston for the second time, Qi plays two totally different characters. Donning some flashy, bizarre looking costumes (as shown below) and being a handicap in Hokkien, he has to sing and dance with Mindee and ‘getai’ veteran Liu Ling Ling onscreen.

As for the petite looking Mindee, she finds her role in "12 Lotus" far more challenging than the one in “881”. A sexual assault scene in the movie might contribute to that factor.

"12 Lotus" has yet to be shown to the media at press time but the kind organizer did edit two impressive sequences for the media to preview. Will "12 Lotus" surpass "881" at the box-office? We may have to wait till 14 August when the movie opens. The official soundtrack however will be release on 8th August. The soundtrack for "881" shifted at least 200, 000 copies and what will be the number this time?

Royston's past movies include "15", "4:30", "881" and now "12 Lotus". It’s all about numbers for Royston and also the investors who we are sure will be sticking their noses at the cash registers very closely.

Check out the music and drama on 14th August 2008 when 12 Lotus opens in our cinemas islandwide.