What Is the Story About?
Netflix’s latest Indian original series ‘Tooth Pari’ is set in the world of fantastical creatures like vampires and witches, as they live unnoticed among humans.
Pretty vampire girl Rumi (Tanya Maniktala) breaks her blood-sucker fang, which compels her to visit naive dentist Bikram Roy (Shantanu Maheshwari) to set her canine right. The one-off encounter turns into an unlikely romance, aided and abetted by Rumi’s vampire guardians David (Saswata Chatterjee) and Meera (Tillotama Shome). Villains of the piece Adi Deb, aka AD (Adil Hussain), and vampire-hunting witch Luna Luka (Revathi) try to put a spanner in the works, along with suspicious cop Kartik Pal (Sikandar Kher). But will their love survive it all?
Tooth Pari is written and directed by Pratim Dasgupta, co-written by Sejal Pasichia, and produced by Endemol Shine India.
Performances?
Lead actors Shantanu Maheshwari and Tanya Maniktala are both average in their respective roles – not too bad, but not outstanding either.
It is the ensemble cast of Tooth Pari that really shines in the series. Sikandar Kher is terrific as the cop with an axe to grind with the vampire community. His delivery of dialogue and performance are on point, both in the humorous scenes as well as the pathos-laden ones. Revathi impresses in her villainous role. Full marks to her for being the most stylish on-screen witch ever. Adil Hussain is fun to watch, not to say unrecognizable, as the manipulative human controller of the vampire clan.
Saswata Chatterjee and Tillotama Shome are superb as members of the vampire clan, who look out for Rumi like surrogate parents. Rajatabha Dutta and Swaroopa Ghosh are equally good as Dr Bikram Roy’s quirky parents. The rest of the cast, including Anjan Dutt as Kartik’s father Biren Da, and Avijit Dutt as Dr Roy’s elderly friend, lends commendable support.
Analysis
For most of its runtime, Tooth Pari oscillates between interesting and ho-hum — dragging in parts, picking up pace in others; perking up in bits, boring us to tears in the rest. It goes ‘Upar’ and ‘Neeche’ with alarming frequency, much like the two worlds that collide in the story. The inconsistency of the storytelling gets to you after a while, but thankfully, the series redeems itself towards the end.
The narrative spends the first episode in world-building, getting us acquainted with the myriad vampire characters and their unique terminology. It’s a world that appears cartoonish and straight out of a video game at first; but it grows on you as you dive deeper into the story. The vampire netherworld is simply labelled ‘Neeche’, while the human world is called ‘Upar’. Talk about simplistic!
The characters in the series are unique too. A perpetually hibernating vampire called Ora (Anish Railkar) is the leader of the pack – he comes out of hibernation now and then to enforce rules, dole out punishment, and do similar leader-like things. AD (Adil Hussain) is a human, who, for some unknown reason, exerts absolute control over the vampires.
Later episodes of the series reveal the real reason for AD wanting to keep the vampires under his thumb – he is creating an elixir from the blood of the vampires that will extend the life of humans, if not make them immortal like vampires. The greedy man is marketing it to the Chinese for exorbitant amounts of money, at the same time, using it to keep his sickly wife (Zarina Wahab) alive.
Meera (Tillotama Shome) is a courtesan, who dresses up in beautiful outfits. A throwaway remark she makes reveals that she was in love with Siraj-Ud-Daula (who, btw, died back in 1757) in her human life (yes, really!). She’s been living the vampire life for 400+ years, and has given up the world of ‘Upar’, ever since Mir Jafar betrayed the love of her life. Yes, we get a mini history lesson too within the eight episodes, along with mentions of the Emergency and the Naxal movement.
The down-in-the-dumps cop Kartik Pal (Sikandar Kher) has the most striking and well-written sub-plot of the series. The other sub-plots are written well too, and keep the viewer engaged until the end. The interaction between Doctor Roy’s parents and David and Meera is one of the most entertaining parts of the series.
Amidst all these interesting characters and subplots, the characters of Rumi and Doc Roy are truly an anti-climax of sorts. The story of Tooth Pari hinges on the two leads, but alas, they are two of the most uninspiring and shabbily written characters in the series. The budding romance between them seems totally forced, mainly because of a glaring lack of chemistry between them.
The story of Tooth Pari is written extremely well, but the execution is atrocious. Shoddy editing ensures that scenes begin and end abruptly, often sounding a discordant note in the flow of the story. And funnily enough, a few plot ideas are directly lifted from Marvel content – the showdown between Rumi and Luna will remind you of the one between Wanda and Agatha Harkness in Wanda Vision. The erasing of memory is directly lifted from the ending of Spiderman: No Way Home, and so on. And oh yes, there’s a Harry Potter-esque railway station connection too.
The setting of Tooth Pari in Kolkata is delightful, especially the liberal smattering of Bengali in the dialogues, and the leveraging of excellent Bengali actors such as Anjan Dutt, Avijit Dutt, Saswata Chatterjee, and the Assamese Adil Hussain.
To sum it up, Tooth Pari is a fairly decent watch, if you overlook the sketchy consistency of the storytelling, and the glaring flaws in execution. It isn’t brilliant or a must-watch by any means, but a good effort, nevertheless.
Music and Other Departments?
Neel Adhikari’s music for Tooth Pari is pleasing to the ear, and suits the narrative well. Antara Lahiri’s editing leaves a lot to be desired — it is inconsistent throughout. Shot transitions are erratic – shots move on to the next scene abruptly, and in a way that niggles. Subhankar Bhar’s cinematography is average.
Highlights?
The unique characters
The ensemble cast and their performances
The story as a whole
Drawbacks?
Lead pair and their romance is uninspiring
Inconsistent Storytelling
Shoddy Editing
Poor Execution
Did I Enjoy It?
I found it Average
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, But with Reservations
Tooth Pari: When Love Bites Series Review by Binged Bureau
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