She made her presence felt with the web show Flames, but actor Tanya Maniktala marked a turning point in her career with filmmaker Mira Nair-directed miniseries, A Suitable Boy.

And recently, the 25-year-old starred in the fantasy-thriller series Tooth Pari: When Love Bites, an unusual love story between a dentist and a vampire, co-starring Shantanu Maheshwari.

Maniktala shares she was blown away by the script. She says playing the role of a vampire was quite unlike any other role or project she had done.

Talking about her preparation for the role, she reveals, “I didn’t want to go through old films for reference. I just wanted to do my own thing... my own original stuff. It’s difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a vampire, but I did my homework and was able to pull it off. Those who saw the series and liked my character in it, complimented me for doing a good job, meaning my hard work has paid off.”

The title of the series is based on the fantasy figure the tooth fairy. Ask her if as a child, she believed in it, and she says, “Absolutely, I did. I actually grew up in a joint family. When we were kids and whenever we would lose a tooth, we would place it under our pillow. I’ve done all of those things with the hope of getting some money in return.”

The actor stays in Delhi and works in Mumbai and admits she wouldn’t “completely shift to Mumbai”.

She adds, “I go back and forth because I don’t want the people or the place to be saturated by me. I do keep visiting (Mumbai) often so that I give the city no time to miss me.”