Saakini Daakini helped Regina Cassandra fulfil her long-time desire to do an action film

Regina Cassandra, who began the year with a bang in the Telugu OTT space with aha’s horror-thriller web show Anya’s Tutorial, is back in the news for her action-comedy, Saakini Daakini, that hits theatres on September 16. The actress shared her experiences about the Sudheer Varma-directorial at pre-release event of the film yesterday. For the unversed, it is the remake of the Korean film Midnight Runners.

“The pre-release event feels so personal to me. It’s encouraging when leading banners trust us with films like Saakini Daakini. The industry needs more attempts like these. When we heard that the film will have a theatrical release, I was thrilled about our efforts getting their due - I thank everyone for giving this film a chance,” she stated.

Sudheer Varma is one of the most energetic directors I’ve worked with, Regina said. “With everyone, he gave the creative freedom for the actors to interpret a scene and never restricted them to perform in a certain way.” The film had her reuniting with cinematographer Richard Prasad after Kotha Janta again after a gap.

The actress felt that the writer Akshay Polla handled the challenge of adapting a Korean film into Telugu very well. “If you like our comedy in the film, a large chunk of the credit would go to him.Bhanuchander, Mirchi Hemanth, Sudarshan and Prudhvi Raj have brought a new energy to the film and Saakini Daakini couldn’t have happened without them,” she shared.

From her very first film, Regina reportedly asked all her action choreographers to let her perform in an action scene, but it was Saakini Daakini that quenched her thirst to be a part of an action film. “Venkat master made our job very easy and helped us understand the creative process behind action sequences. I and Nivetha were awestruck.”

Regina was glad that the pre-release event was organised on the producer’s birthday. “Sunitha Tati’s presence made a lot of difference to the sets, the energy was very different when she was around. I learnt a lot from her through this opportunity, mainly patience and understanding. I am excited to see what audiences have to say about our film. This is a major milestone in my career.”