COURTESY MIRROR MUMBAI OCT 24

Weren’t informed that the show is going off air’
Says ACP Pradyuman, Shivaji Satam, on the channel’s decision to pull the plug on the crime drama series; producer-director BP Singh promises CID will be back but unsure of format, cast, budget
| Natasha.Coutinho@timesgroup.com
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Shivaji Satam who played ACP Pradyuman, the lead character of the popular crime drama CID, for 21 years is shocked by the channel’s sudden decision to pull the plug on the show. “CID has become a part of our lives. It is like someone has cut off an organ from our body,” said the distraught actor who was shooting for a Marathi film on the outskirts of Pune. He will return to Mumbai after a week after which he plans to meet the team and discuss what is going to be their next course of action.

On Tuesday, Sony Entertainment Television released a statement: “Having completed 20 years, CID is the longest running cult show on Sony Entertainment Television. It has been a great journey so far, along with Fireworks Productions, CID will now take an intermittent break starting 28th October, 2018. The last episode of the show will be aired on 27th October, 2018. The show will gear up for a renewed season with a lot more contextual cases keeping alive the thrill that the audience has experienced so far.”

Satam revealed that they have banked three-four episodes, shot around 15 days ago. "Now that the channel has decided to abruptly end the show, I don’t know if they will even be aired,” he rued, admittting that the decision has come as much as a shock to him as it has to the many CID fans going by the calls and messages he has been inundated with since the announcement. “Everyone is equally stunned by the news. I don’t know if the channel will want us back. We weren’t even officially informed that it's going off air,” he groused. Reflecting on the show's two-decade run, Satam sighed that it is the fans they will miss the most. "We've been entertaining them all these years.”

Creator, producer and director BP Singh told Mirror that he plans to bring the show back in a few months. "We will propose and channel will decide in what format it will return. It may not be episodic anymore. The cast too will be decided depending on their decision," he pointed out, adding, "Though we have a strong fanbase, we are now competing with the i web series. The most crucial thing is the budget which will not be as much as before,” he concluded