“We do not always need to have a man rescuing a woman; it is interesting when a story explores how women stand up for other women,” says actor Regina Cassandra during this interview when we get talking in between her shooting schedule in Hyderabad. The context is her Telugu film Saakini Daakini, an official adaptation of the Korean film Midnight Runners, scheduled to release on September 16. She and Nivetha Thomas play trainee police officers who find themselves in the thick of the action when they set out to rescue a teenage girl. In the process, they discover a gang that is involved in the illegal sale of oocytes.
The Korean action film was narrated from the point of view of two young male protagonists. The Telugu film directed by Sudheer Varma and co-produced by D Suresh Babu and Sunitha Tati reimagines this story through its female protagonists. Regina was approached for the adaptation in late 2020 and the actor was curious: “I found the possibility of two women, who are not in a position of power, rising to the challenge and fighting to save the girls, interesting. These two women are filled with rage at the plight of the girls.”
Regina was the first to be signed and Nivetha followed suit. Regina plays an uptight trainee who is finicky about cleanliness while Nivetha plays a comparatively fun-loving character. Regina points out, “I don’t remember any recent mainstream film headlined by two women. I am always game to try something new and did not let this opportunity slip away.”
Nivetha Thomas and Regina Cassandra in ‘Saakini Daakini’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
When she talks about wanting to try something different, she means it. Cases in point are some of her recent projects — director Selvaraghavan’s Nenjam Marappathillai and Chimbu Devan’s hyperlink film Kasada Thapara in Tamil, the Telugu-Tamil horror-drama web series Anya’s Tutorial and the Hindi web series Rocket Boyz, in which she was cast as the late dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai.
Apart from the fact that Saakini Daakini rides on the shoulders of its female characters, the draw for Regina was the story touching upon the egg harvesting racket: “I used to wonder if such incidents happened in India but recently, I came across news reports that confirmed similar rackets in Tamil Nadu. We have often heard about illegal organ harvesting, but this is a relatively new topic. I hope the film helps to raise awareness about the issue.”
A fitness enthusiast and an adventure sports lover, Regina learnt the basics of Jujutsu to finetune her action moves for the film: “Luckily, Nivetha has the more action-oriented part. But when I had to deliver the kicks in fight sequences, I wanted them to look perfect on screen and trained for it.” The climax portions involve an extended action set piece that she is eager to watch on screen.
Regina Cassandra and Nivetha Thomas in ‘Saakini Daakini’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
If some of the films and series she has been a part of in the recent past have veered away from the predictable mainstream fare, she credits her instincts as well as her team. “I never went out of my way to network with producers, directors or actors to bag projects and I still cannot do it. Now I have a team in place to do that lobbying. I was happy when the team helped me get the part in Rocket Boyz.”
Regina was 14 when she debuted in the Tamil film Kanda Naal Mudhal, as the heroine’s sister. She began playing the female lead when she was 16. She reflects, “I was so naive and went with the flow. I had been a part of dance and drama clubs at school and art gave me a lot of happiness. Opportunities came to me without much of an effort. I think I had a natural flair for acting.”
While pursuing graduation in psychology, she worked in 10 short films, including those directed by Balaji Mohan and Ajay Gnanamuthu, now established names in Tamil cinema. “One thing led to another. The short films became quite popular and my mother began getting calls from filmmakers in Hyderabad. I became an actor for good,” she laughs.
Seventeen years in cinema and she has had her share of the good, the bad and the ugly. Away from the film sets, sports keep her energised. In 2021, she won a stand-up paddle race in Chennai and also cycled 140 kilometres to raise funds for para-athletes. But she points out that as much as she loves the outdoors, there are days when she doesn’t want to lift a finger. “I can also stay at home quietly and enjoy my own company.”
