Saakini Daakini

Saakini Daakini is a 2022 Telugu action comedy directed by Sudheer Varma and produced by Suresh Productions, Guru Films and Kross Pictures. An official remake of the 2017 South Korean film Midnight Runners, it recasts the original’s two male leads as women, played by Regina Cassandra and Nivetha Thomas. Mikey McCleary composed the music, and the film was released in cinemas on 16 September 2022.

What the story is about

Shalini and Damini come from very different backgrounds and arrive at the police academy as trainee sub-inspectors. Put in the same room, they become fierce rivals, and a full-blown brawl nearly gets them suspended. Only when Shalini helps an injured Damini during a forest run, when no one else will, do the two become best friends.

Coming back from a club one midnight, they witness a young woman being kidnapped. The local police are tied up with another case, and the two trainees know the first hours after a kidnapping are critical, so they start investigating on their own, and quickly find themselves out of their depth against a far bigger criminal operation than they imagined.

Cast and crew

• Nivetha Thomas as Shalini (“Saakini”)
• Regina Cassandra as Damini (“Daakini”)
• Bhanu Chander as Pratap, head of the police academy
• Prudhvi Raj as CI Raghu, an academy instructor
• Raghu Babu as SI Brahma Rao
• Kabir Duhan Singh as the head of a trafficking ring
• Ravi Varma as a fertility doctor

Director: Sudheer Varma. Production: Suresh Productions, Guru Films and Kross Pictures. Music: Mikey McCleary. Runtime: 118 minutes.

Making the film

Producer Suresh Babu bought the remake rights to Midnight Runners in January 2020 in collaboration with Seoul-based Kross Pictures, and Sudheer Varma, making his first remake, signed on the same month. Regina and Nivetha joined in August 2020. Shooting began in March 2021, was halted by the pandemic, and wrapped in August 2021, entirely in Hyderabad; the title was confirmed that November. At one point in December 2021 the makers considered releasing it directly on Netflix.

Reviews

Reviews were lukewarm, though the two leads were liked. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu called it “a fun watch” thanks to Nivetha and Regina. The Times of India gave it 2.5 out of 5, finding an entertaining first half but a second half “crumbling under its own weight”, while welcoming the “show of girl power”. Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute also gave 2.5, feeling the plot went “in the same circle”, and Sakshi Post gave 2 out of 5, advising fans of Korean films to watch the original instead. We have not found box-office figures from a named outlet.

Where to watch Saakini Daakini

The film began streaming on Netflix on September 30, 2022, in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, according to Wikipedia. We have not checked a current Netflix listing, so availability may differ.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Saakini Daakini and the reviews it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.