Article- Crime Time - Surya

It's been 13 years since it hit the airwaves, but B P Singh's bi-weekly CID continues to be the top-rated show on Sony despite the onslaught of celebrity-studded reality shows. So, when the channel decided to counter the cricket frenzy that has taken over the tube starting with the World Cup followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL), it's not surprising that Singh has been summoned to dish out another cop series. Says Singh, "The challenge was not only to create another detective series at a short notice, but also produce it as a one-hour prime-time daily."

It may seem a tall order, but not for the producer-director who has been doling out crime stories for over 15 years. Singh also has to his credit a Marathi detective show 100 prior to CID and it was a task right up his sleeve. He had been toying with the idea of a blind cop solving crimes and he seized this opportunity to execute it. He sounded off the Sony officials who were so taken up with the concept that Surya:The Super Cop was born. Surya, played by Harsh Chhaya is a retired police officer who loses his eyesight in an encounter operation following which he is suspended from the force. However, that doesn't stop the investigating agencies from seeking his help when they meet a dead-end whilst solving crimes.

"You'll be amazed to know what blind people are capable of. Harsh also did research for his role and came up with some startling information. Visually-challenged people can feel colours and paint beautifully, a fact that I intend to utilise in an episode. They develop their faculty of touch and sense a person's character and his vibes just by touching him. I am going to use this in a big way in my show. Whenever an object is found on a crime scene and the agencies can not fathom it, I will have Surya touch its surface and unravel some fascinating information. It may be a little extreme, but it will mesmerise the viewers," explains Singh.

Besides Surya, the show has three crime investigating units, a couple of senior cops, one of them being corrupt. Popular theatre and film actor Vinay Apte has been roped in to play the role of a police officer who creates obstacles in solving the crimes. Planned for 34 episodes, the show may continue if it becomes successful. While this will be the first show-of-its kind on Indian television, the United States had a show, The Blind Justice, over a decade ago. "I saw that show recently and in that the blind cop has a dog. But my show has neither been inspired by it nor is there any similarity between the two," clarifies Singh.

In the meantime, Singh's CID is busy solving cases in different parts of the country. With the tagline Aapke sheher aa raha hai CID, the show has recently covered Pune, Aurangabad and Kolhapur. Soon, Singh plans to make a film based on the show. "It will have the same team of actors and a few fresh ones. I will start shooting by the end of this year and it will release in 2012," he says proudly.

Now, that deserves a salute from none other than ACP Pradyuman aka Shivaji Satam, what say?

CID will soon be on the big screen
CID is the longest-running detective series on Indian television.

Producer-director B. P. Singh has entered the Guinness Book Of World Records for canning an entire episode of CID named The Inheritance in one single shot of 111 minutes (one hour 51 minutes) without a single cut.

Since last year, Sony has instituted the CID Gallantry Awards that are given to common men who have shown exemplary courage in adverse situations.

New Beginnings
Though its sister channel Max is the official broadcaster of the IPL, Sony is launching a new show with the intention of capturing the male viewership. Says Ajay Balwankar, Programming Head, "Men tune into TV in the evenings as they come home early to catch the matches. We are targeting them. Also, after Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, we had a vacant slot between 9 - 10 pm and we didn't want to launch a big property like X Factor during IPL, which is why we have brought Surya The Super Cop. B. P. Singh has given us huge successes in the past with CID and Aahat and we hope it will be repeated with this show."