While Sudheer Varma’s Saakini Daakini, starring Regina Cassandra and Nivetha Thomas, is amusing in the first half, the second half is overly ambitious and falls apart under its own weight. This is Saakini Daakini movie review!
Story
Damini (Regina Cassandra) and Shalini (Nivetha Thomas), two women with very different upbringings, end up as police cadets at the Telangana Police Academy. On one of their excursions, they saw a girl being abducted who had just moments earlier saved them from a potential accident. They both decide to help her. But as they pursue their target, they stumble across a deeper and more evil medical mafia in the shadowy city alleys.
Film Critique
Midnight Runners, a 2017 Korean action-comedy film, tells the coming-of-age tale of two young male police trainees who, motivated by a feeling of duty and empathy, attempt to rescue an abducted girl and, in the process, uncover a medical swindle. The Telugu adaptation of this tale, Saakini Daakini, starring Regina Cassandra and Nivetha Thomas, succeeds in making it an adequately thrilling and engaging experience.An action scene that takes place in a little eatery in Hyderabad’s Old City is one of the movie’s highlights. Nivetha Thomas and Regina Cassandra’s characters Shalini and Damini are pursuing a gang that traffics women and facilitates the selling of oocytes illegally. To fight off the formidable men, the two must punch far above their weight. This sequence is made enjoyable to see and credible through stunt choreography, music, cinematography, editing, and sound design. Shalini and Damini utilize items from the restaurant to overwhelm the males.They demonstrate their agility with somersaults, slow-motion photos taken in mid-air, and swift movements. This strong emotional connection to the main characters is what makes this underdog movie worthwhile.The two-hour film’s narration is clear, and it doesn’t squander time setting up the atmosphere of the police academy students. A study, in contrast, is Shalini and Damini. While the other is particularly picky about hygiene, one enjoys eating and keeps food packages hidden in her cabinet. One is unsure of her motivation for enrolling at the academy, while the other needs to convince her parents of a point. The worlds of the two girls are contrasted when Damini asks Shalini if she has always had a strong connection to her family, and Shalini replies, “Is there another option?”Several performers best recognized for their comedic performances make brief cameos in the opening hour, playing important roles in the academy as buddies and tutors. While some jokes are funny, others seem forced. However, it is at this point that we begin to like the two protagonists and see them for who they are—young women—instead of just as stars.The two experience a pivotal night out at a pub when they realize the painful irony of being unable to put their theoretical knowledge into reality because of restrictive procedures. Shalini and Damini decide to handle matters themselves because the police are preoccupied with a high-profile case.In one instance, Damini sobs as she realizes the seriousness of the medical scam that uses girls’ oocytes to fuel reproductive clinics. The two trainees gain a higher sense of purpose as a result of the realization, and at that point, the girls begin to mature. This moment demonstrates how the adaption is more sympathetic because of the gender switch.When Shalini uses her sense of taste to locate answers, a number of comedic sequences from the first parts about her love of food take on a deeper significance. It’s entertaining to witness the chutney-hopping scene, and it doesn’t lessen the importance of their objective.Its two female leads are Saakini Daakini’s two greatest assets. Regina and Nivetha’s outstanding performances in Saakini Daakini make it a fun film to see. As a vivacious young woman who learns that she is also made of tougher material, Nivetha Thomas is charming. She portrays Shalini with a lot of enthusiasm as a childlike woman. Between the two, Regina plays the more serious role and adeptly transitions from projecting a steely persona to an assured and sympathetic young officer in training.A racy comedy with two female leads doesn’t come around very often. From the crowd, Saakini Daakini stood out.