Toothpari Review: Interesting premise let down by amateur writing and execution
Toothpari Web Series Rating: 2 Stars
Finally watched Toothpari web series on Netflix. So, let’s analyze the cast, release date, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast: Shantanu Maheshwari, Tanya Maniktala, Revathi, Tillotama Shome, Sikandar Kher, Saswata Chatterjee and Adil Hussain
Director: Pratim D. Gupta
Release Date: 20th April 2023 on Netflix
Duration: 8 Episodes/ 35 Minutes
Story: Set in Kolkata the series begins with Rumi (Tanya Maniktala) going out on a hunt for blood. Unfortunately, she breaks a canine while trying to drink a man’s blood and thus begins her quest for a dentist. She ends up consulting Dr Roy (Shantanu Maheshwari) who faints at the sight of blood.
The one-off encounter turns into an unlikely romance, aided and abetted by Rumi’s vampire guardians David (Saswata Chatterjee) and Meera (Tillotama Shome). Enter, a gang of humans called Cuttmundu (another pun on both the Nepal capital and the Bengali words for severed head). Headed by Luna vampire-hunting witch Luka (Revathy), this gang finds and sends vampires down under and they find out about Rumi’s accident and resolve to stop her.
There is also suspicious cop Kartik Pal (Sikandar Kher) who is investigating the case. The situation gets complicated from there on where love and the lust for blood collide and the authorities get involved. But will their love survive it all?
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Direction
3. Story
Negatives
1. Length
2. Unnecessary Sub-plots
3. Screenplay
4. Bengali Dialogues
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I have watched the trailer of this series planned to watch on its premiere day because story looks very unique.
A rebellious vampire with a broken tooth falls for a shy dentist on the streets of Kolkata in India, but human and mystical forces strive to keep them apart.
Though there are a number of interesting things to look forward to in the series, the script itself feels scattered and quite slow, especially after the first two episodes and straight down to the fifth. Moreover, a lot of the attempts at tongue-in-cheek humor maybe lost on someone who’s not so interested in the nuances of Bengali but is eager to get on with the story. But the story takes its own sweet time to unfold. If at all. Even the continual mix of Hindi, English and Bangla in the dialogues feels unnecessary at times, and the characters switching from Hindi to Bangla is a bit of a drag, as the subtlety of the original dialogues is lost in the subtitles. This is perhaps why Tooth Pari isn’t able to hold on to the suspense and could have been a much better watch with crisper editing and a tighter script.
The predictability with which the characters are introduced even kills the suspense built at the beginning. Every character has a back story, but it feels like they are unable to express it. Talking about the talented bunch of actors, all of them fail to save this series from going neeche. Individually, despite trying their level best to keep the momentum, we are lost, just like the plot. The best part of Tooth Pari is the attempt to upturn the traditional notions. It goes for subtle gender role reversal as well as prods the characters to follow their dream without sounding preachy. The series ends with enough hints that a second season is in the offing and its blood-guzzling characters will be back for more human encounters.
Overall, as a genre, Tooth Pari has a potential to be so much more and given that this is a genre which is not experimented in India as much. Something that could have been a genre-breaking show. However, lack-luster acting, and amateur writing puts a stake through the heart of this show. The storyline, amazing on paper, does not resonate on screen thanks to absurdist insights and not fleshed out characters. My View on this web-series Time Pass for its uniqueness.
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