TV show CID could soon be a film

Indian television's longest running detective show CID might soon be a film, says producer B.P. Singh, promising more action, a unique storyline and different styling with the same cast.

"There will be a film on CID with the same cast, but one main villian will be from outside," Singh told IANS, adding that he was not sure about the time frame.

Launched Jan 21, 1998, on Sony, CID has so far aired more than 615 cases in over 824 episodes.

Shivaji Satam plays ACP Pradyuman, while Aditya Shrivastav, Dayanand Shetty, Dinesh Phadnis, Vivek V. Mashru, Hrishikesh Pandey, Narendra Gupta and Shraddha Musale are the important members of his team.

"The cast will be the same, but there will be additional cast for villains. We need to see who we can afford. There will be outstanding action scenes to make it different. The story, treatment action should look different from our regular episodes. We need to present a story that is remarkable and unique and different from the regular CID," he said.

"Theoretically, it should start by the end of this year. The channel owns the rights...Even if the channel says yes today, we would be able to start early next year," Singh added.

It will be the third TV show after Office Office and Khichdi to be converted into a movie.

According to Singh, showing relevant content was a challenge.

"The most difficult part is how to keep pace with changing scenarios. In 15 years, the TV viewership has changed completely, people have grown up but they are still watching our show. When we are writing, we try to incorporate modern ideas and situations that people can connect to easily.

"But the basic has not changed. We are still making mystery. We have reduced violence because we want to connect with the family audience. It is not gory or shocking."

The main attraction of CID is how it deals with the forensic management of evidence.

"I wanted to make it different. Forensic science is what people are not aware of and we thought we should introduce that. From day one, a real forensic doctor was acting in our show. When I used to hear forensic stories, they used to amaze me. Everyone wants to know what goes on inside the body. We have developed and made our forensic lab more attractive over the years," he said.

"We cannot show dissection of a body on screen, and here we use special effects. We use our lab as an entertainment centre. We don't give lectures. It would become very boring to give people scientific facts. We purposely use language that is easy to understand. In 'CID', it is hard to find any English word... There are people who feel that CID is not intellectual enough, but we are not ashamed of it."

After directing thrillers like CID and Aahat, Singh also directed the comedy show Gutur Go on SAB TV but the focus is on crime.

"Once you get successful in something, the industry is such that you get that work only."