Why CID pwns 24.

24 = That American show in which a certain invincible fellow called Jack Bauer protects the US of A from random terrorist attacks. His specialty? He does it in 24 hours. Flat.

CID = That Indian show in which a certain invincible invincible (yes, he’s invincible twice over) fellow called ACP Pradyuman solves anything under the sun ranging from murder mysteries, to drug rackets and sex scandals. His specialty? He solves every case in one episode. Flat. Beat that, Bauer.

24 is frustration. Every season consists of 24 episodes of 1 hour each, depicting an hour out of the life and times of Mr. Jack Bauer, working as something or something else with the US Government. It is so addictive that as soon as one episode finishes, you start thinking what would happen in the next one. And if you somehow manage to miss one of the episodes, the entire season is pretty much ruined for you. Yes, they do show a brief recap but it isn’t much of a help.

CID, meanwhile, is fun. Crazy fun. A new case starts every episode and they always manage to solve it by the end of the episode. This means that you don’t have to worry about what would happen in the next episode and it hardly matters if you manage to miss a couple of them in between. CID will come back to entertain you, fresh as ever. Plus, ACP Pradyuman is more efficient and responsible than Bauer. He’s been ACP of the CID for more years than you can count. And he’ll continue to serve at that position for more years than your computer can count. Finally they’ll make him the Prime Minister of India.

Let us go into a point wise analysis of why CID kicks 24’s ass:-

• The premise. The basic idea behind the two series says it all. While 24 focuses only on terrorist threats to the United States, CID focuses on any problem that could arise in any part of the country. Just how long can you keep watching Islamic terrorists and drug lords trying to blow up the USA? It gets boring and monotonous after a while. CID on the other hand continues to surprise you every single time with it’s magnificent episodes and plots such as “Kissa kuchle hue cockroach ka”, “Kissa Inspector Daya ke kidnapping ka”, “Kissa mummy ke khoon ka”, and maybe even “Kissa Inspector Abhijeet ke Computer pe mile Russian porn ka”. See what I mean? And yes, they would totally show a censored version of the Russian porn found on Inspector Abhijeet’s computer. That’s how awesome they are.

• 24 is a very one man show. It’s all about Jack Bauer and how he single handedly kicks everyone’s ass. CID, however, teaches us something much more important. It teaches us team spirit. This show isn’t merely about ACP Pradyuman’s heroics. It is also about Inspector Abhijeet’s brilliant ideas, Inspector Daya’s brute strength, Inspector Freddy’s crazy sense of humor, and Dr Salunkhe’s unbelievably accurate corpse analysis techniques. And of course, how can we not mention his bravery and wit? He’s probably the only guy on the planet who picks on Pradyuman and gets away with it.

• 24 is very unpredictable as far as the people are concerned. You never when who is going to change sides and decide to support the terrorists. The only guy who’ll always be good is Jack Bauer because nobody has the balls to say that Jack Bauer is bad. The CID personnel, however, are completely devoted and dedicated to their country and department. Maybe Pradyuman made them sign loyalty oaths (Catch22, anyone?). So, yes, the CID personnel are completely dedicated and they will always do what Pradyuman tells them to do, unlike Bauer’s subordinates, who never do what he says. Pradyuman will order Daya, “Daya, shoot yourself in the head, and make sure you die. And then come back alive, okay?” and Daya will shoot himself in the head, will die and will come back. Nobody ever, and I mean EVER disobeys ACP Pradyuman.

• Let’s face it – Jack Bauer is very impractical. He’s just like Sunny Deol. He goes right into the headquarters of the terrorists alone, gets tortured, escapes, tortures them and saves America. How is that any different from what Sunny Deol does in every other movie? And then you go and criticize the poor guy. ACP Pradyuman on the other hand, is the most practical man on the face of this earth. Even on the face of the solar system for that matter, because even the aliens don’t dare mess with him. So yeah, he stays in the office, does a couple of convulsive hand movements, gives a couple of strained expressions and solves the cases. No wonder he’s been the head of CID for such a long time now whereas Bauer keeps getting sacked in every season. Learn from daddy, Bauer. Learn.

• 24 feels like work, whereas CID is entertainment. As I’ve already mentioned, you actually have to use your head to understand what’s going on in 24. What is the point of doing that when you’re watching TV to relax and give your brains some rest? CID is a lot of fun. You don’t need to tax your brains. You just sit there and marvel at how those guys consistently solve the most complicated of cases in just 1 hour. Moreover, CID gives you hope. It actually shows you that there were people who were even more bored than you were. They were so bored that they decided to get together and make CID, which has now successfully removed the word ‘boredom’ from many a dictionary. That’s the hidden power of CID. They’re doing everything for a greater good. And 24? Bleh.

And if you still aren’t convinced, just go and check out the Wikipedia pages for 24 and CID. And you’ll see that CID completely destroys 24. Twice over. More than that, actually. And with this, I rest my case. Thanks for listening. And if you still don’t agree, watch out. Pradyuman is coming for your ass, baby!