New Delhi: Director and producer BP Singh, the creator of India’s long-running television show CID, died of a heart attack on 27 October at 77. He also directed Gutur Gu, which is considered the country’s first silent television show.
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit confirmed the news in a post shared on his Instagram account.
“His work is still and will continue to be an inspiration to generations to come. Was fortunate to be a very close associate of him when he was the President of Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association,” Pandit wrote in the caption.
From Doordarshan to television thrillers
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Singh began his career as a news cameraman at Doordarshan in 1973, a role he held for a decade.
He later began making telefilms for the broadcaster, including Sirf Chaar Din (1985) starring Nana Patekar, Dilip Kulkarni and Manorama Wagle. He also produced Ek Shunya Shunya (1988)
Singh went on to create Aahat in 1994. The show initially focused on suspense and thrillers, but after 40 episodes, its makers introduced supernatural elements.
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‘CID’ became one of India’s longest-running shows
When Sony TV entered the Indian market in 1995, Singh created CID, which began airing in 1998. The crime investigation series ran until 2025, completing 1,651 episodes and becoming one of India’s longest-running television shows.
“Seven cops and one dead body. That’s the basic premise of the show. All our episodes are based around this fact,” Singh told Forbes India in an interview marking the show’s 15th anniversary.
CID also earned a place in the Guinness World Records for the longest television shot, with its team filming a 111-minute episode in a single continuous take. The episode was titled Inheritance.
‘Gutur Gu’ and later work
During the same period, Singh also produced Gutur Gu, considered India’s first silent television show. Directed by Prabal Barua, the series starred Sheetal Maulik and Sunil Grover. It aired from 2010 to 2014 and completed 189 episodes.
Singh’s last directorial work was SuperCops Vs Super Villains, an Indian crime-detective supernatural television series that began airing in 2012. The show ended in 2017.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)