India, July 12 -- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) recently directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council to suspend all television ratings until it secures a renewed license under the new Television Ratings Policy, 2026. As the industry navigates the impact of this move, actor Smita Bansal is looking at the bright side. Having worked on TV for close to three decades in shows like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Balika Vadhu and Sanjivani, Bansal says she "never understood the TRP game". She questions how can a handful of sample households decide the popularity of content watched by millions. "I've been skeptical of the ratings system, especially after seeing well-made shows fail despite their quality. I don't think it is the right tool to judge a show's success or failure," she says. The 48-year-old asserts that TRPs don't dictate or reflect a team's efforts behind a show: "If my show's TRP is low, I won't work any less on it. And higher TRPs doesn't mean I'll do better. When people recognise me because of a character, that is how I judge if a show is working." Bansal's last show Bhagyalakshmi ended in June last year, and she is now returning to TV, but with a finite-episode series. "The TRP game won't apply here. We've almost shot the entire series. There's no chance of changing anything, and I think that's beautiful," she says....