Saakini Daakini producer Sunitha Tati: Nivetha Thomas has the potential to become a good director

Sunitha Tati is joining hands with Suresh Productions and Kross Pictures yet again after Oh Baby. Their next collaboration, Saakini Daakini, is the Telugu remake of the Korean actioner Midnight Runners, helmed by Sudheer Varma. The pre-release event of the Nivetha Thomas, Regina starrer was held in Hyderabad yesterday, where Sunitha spoke at length about the film.

“The film started with a vision to be made with two male leads, but it was the thought of ‘Why can’t this movie be headlined by women?’ that brought us this far. Sudheer Varma genuinely believed in this line of thought and was committed to making a heroine-centric film.We survived three waves of pandemic through the film’s journey that began at the same hotel in March 2021,” she said.

The producer shared that September 16 would be a special day for her team. “Like how Oh Baby wouldn’t have happened without Samantha and Nandini Reddy, Saakini Daakini wouldn’t have been possible without Nivetha Thomas and Regina Cassandra. Doing a regular drama or a comedy film is different from comedy and I know the efforts they’ve put into this.”

She mentioned that Regina was quite a natural with action. “It took only two minutes for me to say yes to Regina’s casting. I didn’t know much about her then but the more I understood her, I realised that we share a lot in common, mostly our love for Ayurveda. She has shown tremendous will power and is now crossing borders across all formats. I will do an international film with her one day.”

The Oh Baby maker stated that Nivetha did three months of prep for her role with clear instructions. “She isn’t only a bundle of energy but a great talent. She stood by me amidst many conflicting situations. There were a lot of arguments and discussions we had through the making and it introduced me to that immense potential in her that’s waiting to be tapped. I see a good director in her.”

She lavished praise on Saakini Daakini’s line producer Vijay Shankar Donkada and the other crew that worked on the film. Sunitha Tati is set to launch four-five new directors to Telugu cinema this year.