Few television shows have enjoyed the kind of longevity that CID has in Indian households. ACP Pradyuman’s ‘kuch toh gadbad hai’ and Daya’s door-breaking moments became part of popular culture, while its investigations kept generations of viewers guessing. First aired in 1998, the show drew audiences with its mysteries and characters. The death of BP Singh, the creator and director of CID, last week, has now sent viewers down memory lane, bringing back recollections of the moments that made the daily soap a television landmark. The team was recently spotted at Singh’s funeral in Mumbai.
Three-time Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej has watched CID for nearly 25 years. His association goes back to his school days, when he remembers tuning in to its early episodes, featuring stars, including Ashutosh Gowariker, before the familiar team took over. While the cast changed, Pradyuman remained a constant. Kej describes CID as a camp mystery thriller, drawing a comparison with the 1960s Batman series, where exaggerated performances and serious situations could sometimes become unintentionally funny.
“The actors do the right amount of hamming sometimes and that is because of the genre,” he explains, adding that this quality is part of what makes the show enjoyable. Its investigations maintain suspense until the end, even as its theatrical presentation gives viewers something to laugh about. “You just have to watch the first five minutes and you are hooked,” he says.
Creating a fresh mystery for every episode, particularly when the show aired thrice a week or so, was no small achievement. Unlike serialised dramas, CID had to produce independent stories, each with a new set of circumstances. “Imagine how difficult it must have been to come up with a new story for every single episode!” he says. One of his favourite memories is an episode featuring a body with an enormous knife sticking out of its chest. After the investigators spend considerable time examining the scene, one of them announces that the victim appears to have died from a knife wound. The absurdity of the observation still makes him laugh.
Kalyan Pathak, branch manager at an accountant firm, remembers Singh as DCP Shamsher Singh Chitrole asking inspector Fredricks (late Dinesh Phadnis) to select his wedding clothes, leaving the team puzzled. He also recalls Daya carrying a time bomb aboard a boat to save others. “Without Singh, CID could never be so popular,” he says, crediting the creator with combining suspense and humour. These factors too made CID a weekend favourite for Ganapathy Mallangada, manager, sales and marketing, who began watching the series around 2005-06. “I was always interested in crime thrillers stories. The suspense and fun kept me coming back,” he says. His favourites were inspector Fredricks and Dr Salunkhe (Narendra Gupta), whose comic moments made weekends stress-free. The show’s dialogue entered his everyday conversations. “‘Kuch toh gadbad hai, Daya’ is used most of the time at work, without Daya,” Mallangada quips.
Engineering student Atharva Jha, who started watching CID in Class II, prefers Abhijeet (Aditya Srivastava) for his independent thinking and attitude towards his seniors. “Unlike Daya, he doesn’t blindly agree with ACP,” he says. Jha enjoys the officers’ camaraderie, Abhijeet’s jokes and Pradyuman’s teasing. He remembers an episode where a child was murdered, prompting Daya and Abhijeet to become furious during interrogation. A dialogue he closely recalls is, ‘Tumhe phansi hogi, phansi!’
Singh’s appearances on screen, where he would taunt the CID team about their work, made him a formidable presence in the show.
Operations manager Sushma Shetty remembers CID as a show her family watched together. Pradyuman remains her favourite for his commanding presence. “His expressions and legendary dialogue made him unforgettable. You cannot think of CID without remembering Daya and his famous darwaza moments,” she says, noting that the characters’ chemistry helped the show connect with audiences. “Some shows entertain you, but a few become a part of your life. CID was definitely one of them," she adds.
Alternating between a sharp, truth-seeking gaze and a bright, welcoming smile, Bengaluru-based actor and educationist Viivek Mashru was a crucial part of CID. He joined the star-studded crew following his big win at the all-India contest CID Operation Talaash. After spending almost six years, he called it quits on his acting career in 2012. Now a strategic growth advisor in namma ooru, Mashru played a young inspector with the same name. In an earlier interview with CE in 2023, he had shared his memories from the sets, while also touching up on his decision to return to academics after a gap of almost 10 years. Speaking about the decision behind exiting the show, he had then said, “I always knew that it was going to come to an end eventually. It has helped me stay grounded and have a balanced perspective. However, I don’t intend to go back. I’m happy being a householder away from the limelight.”