Shalini and Damini begin by starting minor conflicts, but as the novel unfolds, their traditional equations give way to a semi-intense, naive connection.
The film under consideration is a remake of the 2017 South Korean action-comedy ‘Midnight Runners,’ in which the characters are male. Midnight Runners, directed by Jason Kim and starring Park Seo-Joon and Kang Ha-neul, is a 2017 South Korean action comedy film. On August 9, 2017, the film was released.
Two lethargic police academy recruits who become closest friends during their difficult training together watch a woman being taken right in front of their eyes. They swiftly report the event to the police, as instructed in the training, but the cops are slow to investigate. As a result, the two decide to take matters into their own hands and rescue the woman.
The gender has been switched in the adaption. On the surface, producer Sunitha Tati, one of the backers of ‘Saakini Daakini,’ appears to be trying something fresh by reproducing six other Korean films these days. Only time will tell if the crop of remakes (due out in the next two years or so) will influence the way Telugu/South Indian cinema approaches the creative elements of recreating foreign films.
For the time being, she and her co-producer D Suresh Babu (whose Suresh Productions has produced some of the most content-driven films over the years) are off to a good start.
Shalini (Nivetha Thomas) and Damini (Regina Cassandra) come from two very different socioeconomic backgrounds. If the former comes from an upper-middle-class family with important parents, the latter comes from a lower-middle-class household.
They both enroll as trainees in a police academy run by a severe officer (Bhanu Chander) and filled by a slew of jerks (played by Prudhviraj whose scenes with Shalini are fun to watch, Nellore Sudarshan who shows symptoms of kleptomania, RJ Hemanth who is a compulsive flirt and Raghu Babu who is conveniently buffoonic).
While Shalini and Damini begin by picking minor conflicts, as the novel unfolds, their traditional equations give way to a semi-intense, naive connection. This feels abrupt, especially because it occurs after around 30 minutes of story stasis. They see an adolescent girl being taken while on their way to the police academy after a night of intense partying. The rookies must now skilfully navigate the inept, unsympathetic system to bust the scam and save the girl.
While the action-crime portion begins with vigor, the flavor becomes generic after the unfertilized egg-harvesting racket component is incorporated. Furthermore, the Shalini-Damini team’s amateur inquiry is riddled with fortuitous, implausible, and naive coincidences, not to mention unintentional findings.
While Shalini and Damini begin by picking minor conflicts, as the novel unfolds, their traditional equations give way to a semi-intense, naive connection. This feels abrupt, especially because it occurs after around 30 minutes of story stasis. They see an adolescent girl being taken while on their way to the police academy after a night of intense partying. The rookies must now skilfully navigate the inept, unsympathetic system to bust the scam and save the girl.
While the action-crime portion begins with vigor, the flavor becomes generic after the unfertilized egg-harvesting racket component is incorporated. Furthermore, the Shalini-Damini team’s amateur inquiry is riddled with fortuitous, implausible, and naive coincidences, not to mention unintentional findings.
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Satya, a comedian, is on hand to deliver a few double-meaning quips amid serious moments. However, such digressions are not relevant to the action. It’s about the girls becoming brave heroines in the face of bureaucratic obstacles, a motif borrowed from ‘Midnight Runners and emphasized by cinema buffs when the Korean version was published.
Mikey McCleary’s songs are unique; the closing montage song, set to an action block, is particularly engaging.
On the negative side, while the background score isn’t bad, it doesn’t lend any weight to the proceedings. Viplav Nyshadam’s editing is even, which is likely due to the director’s talent. Richard Prasad of ‘Oh Baby’ fame finds work as a cinematographer.
