Tooth Pari series review: On the streets of Kolkata, India, a disobedient vampire with a damaged tooth falls in love with a bashful dentist, but supernatural and human powers work to keep them apart.
Series Details:
Cast: Shantanu Maheshwari, Tanya Maniktala, Tillotama Shome, Sikandar Kher, Saswata Chatterjee, Revathi, and Ensemble.
Creator: Pratim D. Gupta.
Director: Pratim D. Gupta.
Streaming On: Netflix.
Language: Hindi (with subtitles).
Runtime: 8 Episodes, Around 40 Minutes Each.
Tooth Pari series review:
A vampire who still has some life in her walks the streets of Kolkata till she comes across a man to hunt, but while biting him, she loses her dog. Then, after falling in love with a shy dentist, she realises that their worlds are completely unrelated. Can their relationship last? Expecting the audience to suspend their disbelief has gotten much more challenging with the development of technology and the availability of materials to aid in audience comprehension of the technique.
It’s difficult to combine fantasy with reality while making the two appear to be a natural part of the same plot. To become one of the most genre-defying shows, A Stranger Things had to devote a full season to establishing the interconnectedness of their two universes. The latest offering from Netflix, Tooth Pari, has a well-thought-out structure, but does it stay true to the genre it intends to revolutionise?
Storyline:
Tooth Pari, written by Pratim D. Gupta with assistance from Sambit Mishra for the story’s creation, blurs the lines between fiction and reality as pieces from a ghostly world are brought into the present day and a narrative involving the living and the dead are told. Although this trajectory has been observed previously, it is the design that is new. In his vision of a vampire community buried deep beneath, Pratim creates a parallel society that is just as developed as our own. Because technically everyone has witnessed evolution, including ghosts and vampires. Seeing a gaming area, high-tech lighting setup, and hibernation pods utilised by bloodthirsty vampires adds a fun touch.
The writing of the vampires’ evolutionary scale is also clever. Some of them have lived for almost as long as human civilisation itself. They are the victims of patriarchy, a lack of love, the atrocities committed against Indians during colonialism, the crimes committed against Kolkata in the name of “discovering Kolkata,” and other things. At the very beginning of the performance, Pratim establishes himself as a highly unique political voice and stays that way until a moment when he forgets. These vampires now use a system in which blood is smuggled to them; they no longer go on the hunt. There is cleverness written all over this section of the story. Even Harry Potter’s Platform 9 3/4 is mentioned.
Screenplay:
Because his patriarchal father views cooking as a feminine quality, Shantanu Maheshwari is allowed to be a reserved “virgin” dentist who also happens to be a secret chef. The performer does the role as one would anticipate. There isn’t much to say about him because he has done this before. Tanya Maniktala does a good job portraying Rumi, who has a complicated role to play. Although it may have done wonders, the script doesn’t offer the vampire in her much screen time. She engages in a confrontation with Revathi, which is likewise hurriedly cut short. It doesn’t work as a tease, despite the makers’ attempts.
Everything that doesn’t work for Tooth Pari eventually leads to what does. The creators are so preoccupied with their setup that they neglect to tell a story. When they realise this, they start sprinting at top speed. Where is the love story that should be at the heart of a vampire drama like Tooth Pari, which is supposed to be similar to Twilight? The alleged chemistry between Roy and Rumi is never sufficiently explored. They end up being teenagers in complicated relationships who are able to forget things the very following day. If we haven’t been able to put anything into them, how are we going to support them?
Characters:
Add to this the fact that Tillotama and Revathi, two well-established women in the company, are never allowed enough stage time to fully convey their talent. Revathi receives a clichéd role that fails to connect. But Shome at least exudes a lighthearted atmosphere and has a persona that manages to generate some recall value. Even the enemy Kutmundus clan is never created sufficiently for the audience to be concerned for the Neeche Vampires (as they refer to their underworld).
Tooth Pari’s haste to the conclusion dilutes so many elements that you can see a promising setup going for a throw with no hope of recovery. This might be a novel rom-com IP with a promising future. There is now very little hope, though. In short, I highly recommend watching this series because the tale was very engaging, especially with the character performances. In the long run, the story could feel monotonous and poorly handled, but the series ages like a good wine, especially after episode 4.
Conclusion:
Most importantly, you might think the plot is a rip-off of one or more vampire Hollywood series or films. But it is just a story all on its own. The viewpoint of who is on the good side and who is on the bad side may change throughout the series. And some characters may seem unpleasant at first. But by the time the first season is out, they have all basically turned out to be pretty helpful.
The series conclusion, which contained a few indications about season 2, was, however, its strongest component. So yes, I believe Netflix should begin production on season 2. The concept is so great that Tooth Pari deserves to be much more than this conclusion. So, this was all about the honest Tooth Pari series review. Click here to read the latest Evil Dead Rise movie review.
