Shefali Shah says TV shows nowadays have no end: ‘TRP nahi chal raha toh iss character ko mar daalo’

Shefali Shah says when she used to star in television shows, there used to be a proper beginning and end, and the focus was on quality over quantity.

Shefali Shah is considered to be one of the best actors working in the Hindi film industry, having wowed audiences over the years with her performances in Delhi Crime, Monsoon Wedding, Satya and Darlings, to name a few. The actor began her journey with theatre and then transitioned to television shows, such as Arohan, before moving on to feature films. In a new conversation with The Lallantop, Shefali shared what was different around the time she was working in TV, and how much change has happened over the years.

Shefali Shah was most recently seen in Netflix's Delhi Crime Season 3. (PTI Photo)(PTI11_04_2025_000314B) (PTI)

What Shefali shared

When asked about doing Television and how she saw that process, the actor shared, “Sabse pehle toh uska end hua karta tha. Beginning, middle, end. Ab toh koi end hi nahi he! Secondly, the point was to make good content. Quality. Not quantity. Uske baad, ab jab 100 or 500 episodes jo bhi chalte he… daily soaps, toh roz you are trying to meet a deadline. Ki ye banana he, ye deliver karna he. Then the TRPs. Ye sab nahi tha jab mein kar rahi thi television (Firstly there used to be a beginning, middle and end. There used to be an end to the show. Now there is no end in them. Now with shows having 500 episodes there is a daily deadline to meet on what to make, what to deliver. How the TRPs are affected. These things were not there before).”

'I can't make out one show from the other'

She added, “Bohot achchi kahaniyan thi, and there was an arc of it. Ye nahi ki achcha TRP nahi chal raha toh iss character ko mar daalo, ya woh storyline badal do. Woh sab nahi hua karta tha. So when I said yes to a script, toh wahi kahani rehti thi. Wahi commitment hamari taraf se, aur lekhak-director ki taraf se rehta tha. Jo maine dekha he… I can't make out one show from the other… sab ek hi tarike se dressed up rehte he (There used to be very good stories. It was not that kill one character because of low TRP or change the storyline. That did not happen. The story would remain the same. It was a commitment from my end, as well as from the writers and directors).”

Shefali is currently seen in Delhi Crime Season 3, reprising her role as Vartika Chaturvedi. The new season also stars Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain, and Rajesh Tailang, along with Huma Qureshi as the formidable villain, Badi Didi. The season revolves around Vartika chasing Meena, aka Badi Didi, who runs a human trafficking network in Delhi. The show has received unanimous praise and is available to stream on Netflix.