Hong Kong superstar Stephen Chow's fingers have certainly been very busy lately.

On New Year's day, the actor-filmmaker posted a throwback photo — a poster from his 1996 movie God of Cookery — on his verified Instagram account.

"It's the new year, what wishes do you have, let's hear it!" he wrote.

And answer the call, his fans did, with the post receiving more than 15,000 comments since Jan 1.

Even more surprising is how Stephen appears to have taken the time to respond to many of them.

From what we observed, however, a majority of those lucky enough to get a reply were those with blue ticks to their profiles. 

These included Hong Kong actresses Myolie Wu and Sisley Choi, as well as some familiar local names.

Wrote Myolie in a comment: "I hope you'll have a family and a little star [a reference to Stephen's nickname]."

"If only my life were as good as yours," he replied good-naturedly.

Stephen, who has more than 480,000 followers on Instagram, also responded to comments left by Singapore-based celebs and personalities such as Jack Neo, Ben Yeo and Shaun Chen.

Wrote Shaun: "Can I act with you in a film?"

"When do you want?" came Stephen's straightforward reply.

Sounding undeniably hopeful, Shaun responded: "I've waited for this opportunity for so long, I'm ready for you anytime, come!"

Even Shaun's wife jumped in the conversation, adding: "My wish is for my husband to have the chance to work with you."

Local influencer Hong Qiuting, better known as Bongqiuqiu, also shared her excitement when Stephen replied to her comment stating that she hoped to see another movie of his — "How about CJ7 2?" she queried.

To her amazement, Stephen responded: "You like CJ7? Me too", along with a handshake emoji.

"I am printing this out and then framing it up and adding it to my list of life achievements," wrote Bongqiuqiu in her IG post following the interaction.

Jack and Ben, too, left comments inviting Stephen to visit Singapore.

"I'll bring you to eat Musang King durians," added Jack, whose movie The King of Musang King will be releasing here on Jan 21. 

Enterprising Ben didn't miss out on the opportunity to plug his brand new eatery: "I would like to invite you to come to Singapore to try fish head steamboat", to which Stephen replied: "I'm salivating. Need more information on all the good food in Singapore."

We spied how the Hong Kong comedian didn't shy away either, when a Taiwanese cheerleader and content creator by the name of Linda offered to send him some items of a more intimate nature.

"I'd like to send you my underwear..." she teased, before adding, "...my line of underwear."

"What colours can I choose from?" replied Stephen — in his trademark deadpan manner, we'd imagine.

The deluge of comments is very entertaining and all, with Stephen coming off as surprisingly affable, but it's still up in the air if he is really the one behind all the replies.

And whether Shaun's wish will come to fruition remains to be seen.

But if you're someone semi-famous and looking for some attention from a top-tier celebrity, you know who to hit up.

candicecai@asiaone.com

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