Actress Gao Yuanyuan receives a portrait of herself from director Liu Jiang at the promotional event for their new movie, Let's Get Married. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2013, the TV drama Let's Get Married became popular because it touched on the topic of sheng nyv or "leftover" women, a controversial term in China that refers to women who remain single at what is seen as an inappropriate age. This year, a movie by the same name will also be released.

Director Liu Jiang, who directed the TV version, is directing the movie too. He says greater focus will be given to social issues surrounding marriage, and he hopes the movie will spark some genuine discussion among audiences, after its expected release date of April 9.

Unlike the TV series that centered on just the ups and downs a couple－on the verge of marriage－go through, the movie consists of four independent stories that reveal different types of social issues related to marriage, yet all stories are bound by a common "secret".

Gao Yuanyuan, who stared in the original TV series and is crowned by fans as a "goddess" for her stunning beauty, also plays the lead in one of the four stories. She portrays a wedding dress shop owner, who is arrogant and has little faith in relationships until she falls in love with her designer played by veteran actor Jiang Wu, famous actor and director Jiang Wen's brother.

Interestingly, this is Gao's first appearance in a movie after her high-profile marriage to Taiwan actor Mark Zhao in November.

Urban love stories have been a very popular topic in Chinese cinema in the recent years. Many such productions have seen surprisingly good performances at the box office, even though critics haven't welcomed them always.