Gone astray: Young singer Hai Bang stars in Duong Hoang Lac Buoc. She hopes that through her role in the TV series, young people will learn useful lessons and live in a more positive way. — File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS) —  Children and their parents this week learned a great deal from teenager Chau Anh, a character played by actress Hai Bang, in the TV series Duong Hoang Lac Buoc (On the Wrong Path).

Directed by Nham Minh Hien of the Golden Wave Studio, the much-anticipated series portrays the lives of urban youth and focuses on Anh, whose parents are preoccupied with their businesses.

After finishing high school, Anh faces difficulties, including family troubles, and begins to smoke and drink and use crystal meth in glass pipes.

She joins a gang to sell the drug and sleeps with men to earn more money. Her good friends admonish Anh about her lifestyle, but she continues.

After finally meeting her true love, she tragically discovers that she has no chance to get her life back on the right path.

Eager to show how young girls can be led astray and how they can redirect their life, Hien has paid close attention to detail.

Key parts of the film script by Tong Phuong Dung and Le Anh Thuy were also rewritten during the shooting to show that Anh was a good girl who had been wronged in life and love.

"We want to attract a large young audience, despite the domination of South Korean films on local television," he said.

Before making Duong Hoang Lac Buoc, Hien asked his young actors to visit nightclubs and drug detoxification centres around the city.

"I wanted it to accurately reflect the true lives of victims of their lifestyle. I wanted Anh's life to be a realistic story."

"I contacted many bar girls and drug dealers who earn a living in the darker places of the city. Thus, I could understand the girls' lives and hardships they face," said actress Hai Bang.

As a young pop singer, Bang is experienced in performing.

In a recent interview with local media, Bang said: "I love this movie and my role. I can learn about different experiences and feel more confident and powerful to fight my own problems."

Bang is particularly enthusiastic about a scene in which Anh begins to return to the right side after she learns about love.

"I believe young audiences will like this scene," she said. "Anh wants to restart her life but it is too late for her. I hope young people will never follow in her footsteps."

Nguyen Quy Hoa, general director of the Ho Chi Minh City Television, said Anh's situation in Duong Hoang Lac Buoc was a warning to youth.

"Our station's priority is to air productions on education, particularly films featuring social issues, to educate young viewers living in urban areas who tend to choose devious paths if they don't receive good advice," he said.

The 32-episode series is broadcast at 10pm every night on HCM City Television's channel 9. — VNS