The Twilight Saga and Vampire Diaries gave us a taste of human-vampire romance and it has been the most loved fantasy genre ever since. As teenagers, I’m sure most of us wished we could have a vampire boyfriend like Edward Cullen who shines bright like a diamond in the sun! But since we can’t have it in IRL, we simply escape into the world of this genre. We’ve seen desi remakes of Twilight and Vampire Diaries in the daily soap format but nothing is as refreshing as an OG desi human-vampire love story and Netflix has gifted us just what we wanted. Produced by Endemol Shine, Tooth Pari: When Love Bites is a romantic thriller fantasy web series written and directed by Pratim D. Gupta. Starring Shantanu Maheshwari and Tanya Maniktala, Sikander Kher, Revathy, Tillotama Shome, Saswata Chatterjee and Adil Hussain, this series premiered on Netflix on April 20. Without further ado, let’s dive into this review!
The Story Of Tooth Pari: When Love Bites
A baaghini aka a rebellious vampire, Rumi (Tanya Maniktala) breaks the rule of “neeche” comes “upar” at night to get some warm and fresh human blood. But one bite into the wrong neck lands her with a broken, missing tooth. And her trip to the dentist to fix her tooth leads to an unlikely romance with Doctor Roy (Shantanu Maheshwari). How will Rumi navigate through this impossible love story with witch Luna Luka (Revathi) and her team of Cutmundus hot on her heels while Inspector Pal (Sikandar Kher) suspects Roy of being the bad guy? David (Saswata Chatterjee) and Meera (Tillotama Shome), who ensure things run smoothly “neeche” and are like parents to Rumi, guide her through the chaos their world and in the human world. But with mystical forces keeping this human and vampire apart, will things ever work out for them? Watch this show set in the backdrop of Kolkata to find out!
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Cast And Characters
Shantanu Maheshwari as Dr Bikram Roy: Shantanu plays the role of a geeky, naive dentist who faints at the sight of blood. The actor looks absolutely biteable in his character. He perfectly portrays the innocent doctor Roy with his boyish charm and clumsiness. He also manages to make one feel irritated with how much of a pushover his character is making you root for him and wish for him to grow TF up! IMHO, there’s no better actor than one who can make you feel invested in a character and feel pride when the character takes a stand.
Tanya Maniktala as Rumi: The actress makes the show fun to watch with her innocent yet blood-sucking tendencies. Tanya Maniktala uses her big doe-like eyes to portray the innocence and humanity of Rumi while using her beautiful smile to play the blood-sucking seductress. The actress truly did dig her fangs into this meaty role and came out shining.
Sikander Kher as Inspector Kartik Pal: Sikander Kher portrays a broken man, a bad boy and a gentleman all rolled into one. It’s beautiful to witness how he manages to showcase his character’s sensitivity, dressed in a leather jacket! His rugged looks make him look even more appealing as he eases into the role.
Revathy as Luna Luka: Revathy is a seasoned actress and her acting skills remain unmatched as she plays the witch you don’t want to mess with in Tooth Pari: When Love Bites. It’s an absolute delight to watch her on the screen.
Tillotama Shome as Meera: The actress plays a courtesan-turned-vampire who has been teaching the female vampires the art of seduction, blood-sucking and Kathak. TBH, Meera’s character wasn’t enough for Tillotama Shome to showcase her nuanced acting skills.
Saswata Chatterjee as David: Tooth Pari: When Love Bites had yet another nuanced actor but the writing did not do justice to the actor or the character. However, Saswata did not let that hold him back from giving his 100% to the role which is rather evident in the series.
Tooth Pari: When Love Bites also stars Adil Hussain, Avijit Dutt, Anindita Bose, Anish Railkar, Zarina Wahab, Barun Chanda, Anjan Dutt, Rajatava Dutta, Kharaj Mukherjee, Swaroop Ghosh and more actors in supporting roles which they have all portrayed with honesty and to near perfection.
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Verdict: This Whimsical Romance Drama Will Leave You Thirsting For More!
Tooth Pari: When Love Bites starring Shantanu Maheshwari and Tanya Maniktala opens with a dig at social issues. In the opening scene, Rumi seduces a man and then bites him to satisfy her thirst for blood after which she calls her friend Sreela, who she is training to suck human blood without killing humans. When Sreela stands and stares at the man instead of consuming his blood, Rumi remarks, “What are you waiting for? Consent?” TBH, that was it for me. Going further the show has a lot to offer. Now, ideally one would expect sparks to be flying amongst the lead characters. But Rumi and Doctor Roy’s romance is more of an adult love story with a stable romance which, IMHO, is rather refreshing.
Overall, the story does not have much to offer with very little thrill and suspense. But romance is what keeps one hooked to the screen. It makes you want so much more. The tongue-in-cheek humour in the dialogues is refreshing. At the same time, the humour is not for the masses which makes it tough to digest for everyone. The dialogues are a mix of Bengali and Hindi which makes it tough to understand several parts unless you pay close attention. Honestly, this wasn’t needed and the chaos caused by the mix of languages could have been avoided.
It’s interesting how, unlike most other films and series, this show does not show the vampire living a high-class comfortable life. Instead, it showcases them being cooped up “neeche” while weaving in the Naxal and Vietnam War narrative to showcase their struggles and what forced them to live the life they’re living. Even with a “Blood Bar” the vampires have been merely existing in their underground lair without making an appearance in the human world until Meera’s baaghini’s stir up a storm in Kolkata after Rumi breaks her teeth trying to suck a human’s blood and turning him by mistake. All hell breaks loose when the human goes to the police station to file a complaint against the “bhootni” who attacked him while Rumi ends up tasting the blood of Doctor Roy (a moment that is straight out of a candy commercial).
And guess what? The doctor happens to be a 26-year-old virgin, which makes his blood a rare delicacy. Everything turns even more chaotic when Meera and David send Sreela to get Doctor Roy’s virgin blood for their party at the Blood Bar but Luna Luka has a trick up her sleeve. Essentially, Rumi falls in love with a virgin doctor after stealing some of his blood in this good old vampire-human love story which leads to a lot of drama (as expected).
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TBH, the story has a rather interesting premise and the makers have made it in a rather unapologetic manner showcasing all kinds of illogical things like the cost of petrol being Rs 200 per liter in Kolkata with a very 80s vibes. It’s almost impossible to understand the era the series is set in due to the cinematography which gives it a very retro feel and the low production value. But despite all the loopholes the series is pratically escapism with a side of romance that you totally want to dig your fangs in. Having said that, it’s essential to note that the script is slightly scattered and the luxury of time that OTT has to offer has made parts of the show slow paced and dragged. The patchy editing makes one wonder if it was done on purpose to make Tooth Pari: When Love Bites seem like a series with low production value. Moreover, despite the lack of passion and spark between the main character, the adorable romance makes you want more and see this love story’s happy ending. Keeping all this in mind, I’ve rated this film 3.5 out of 5 stars. All in all, I’d suggest you bite into this whimsical romantic drama for a good weekend binge.
Tooth Pari: When Love Bites is currently streaming on the OTT platform Netflix.