CID is an Indian Hindi-language detective television series that aired on Sony Entertainment Television. Created and directed by B. P. Singh and produced by Fireworks Productions, it is one of the longest-running television series in Indian television history. The show follows the cases of the Crime Investigation Department of the Mumbai Police, with each episode typically presenting a self-contained criminal investigation solved by a recurring team of officers.
| Title | CID |
|---|---|
| Genre | Detective, crime, procedural drama |
| Created by | B. P. Singh |
| Director | B. P. Singh |
| Production company | Fireworks Productions |
| Original network | Sony Entertainment Television |
| Original release | 21 January 1998 – 27 October 2018 (original run) |
| Language | Hindi |
| Country | India |
| Setting | Mumbai |
The series was conceived by filmmaker B. P. Singh, who had earlier produced documentary and crime-related content. CID premiered on 21 January 1998 on Sony Entertainment Television, at a time when Indian television was dominated by family dramas and mythological serials. The show introduced the procedural format—a recurring police unit handling new cases each week—as a sustained genre on Indian prime time.
Each episode typically begins with a crime, followed by investigation, forensic analysis, interrogation, and resolution. The principal characters are members of the fictional CID unit of the Mumbai Police.
The series was shot primarily in and around Mumbai. Episodes generally follow a single self-contained mystery, though the show has also produced multi-part storylines and longer mini-arcs. Production techniques over the years have included forensic recreations, action sequences, and outdoor location shoots.
On 5 November 2004, CID aired a single continuous episode of approximately 111 minutes, which was recognised by the Limca Book of Records as the longest single-shot television episode at the time. The show has also produced several feature-length specials.
CID is widely credited with popularising the police procedural format on Indian television and is one of the most recognisable brands on Sony Entertainment Television. Catchphrases associated with the show—particularly those of ACP Pradyuman and Inspector Daya—became part of popular culture and have been referenced extensively in Indian internet humour and memes.
The series sustained a long, loyal audience across multiple generations and was frequently rerun on Sony Pal and other networks. Its lead actors became closely identified with their on-screen roles, with Shivaji Satam, Aditya Shrivastava, and Dayanand Shetty in particular maintaining their characters across two decades.