6 on-screen characters that give out ‘elder daughter core’

Elder daughters often play the role of an unofficial third parent, becoming the family's backbone in tough times. Bollywood has given us many relatable examples of such elder daughters who we’ve loved watching on-screen!

They say a daughter is one of the best blessings a family could ask for. She is the one who takes care of everyone by taking everyone’s likes-dislikes, and feelings into consideration. She acts as the parent for her younger siblings for sure when their parents are busy at work or just haven’t parented the way they one would expect them to or in any circumstance. They generally don't need a reason to adopt their younger sibling. She becomes the shield for her younger siblings, saving them from every harm possible. She had to grow up way before she should have, and she definitely ain’t no damsel in distress. In fact people are scared to mess with her or cross her path because they know she has a side to her that people would want to stay away from. Elder daughters are the decision makers, the one who defies norms of what’s ‘expected’ out of a daughter and the backbone of keeping the family together. She’s there to clean up everyone’s mess, but who takes care of her? She often feels emotional neglect; she feels like just letting go and relaxing the way her younger siblings do, but there are so many things that weigh her down. Hence, she has to be on full alert mode 24/7.

Bollywood has given us some rather relatable on-screen elder daughters who, over the years, have authentically portrayed what it's truly like for us. The most recent one has to be Alia Bhatt’s Jigra, which has garnered so much critical acclaim and love from the audience. It is the story of Satya, an elder sister, who can literally go to any extent to save her brother. It hits so close to home because, as an elder sibling myself, I feel a feeling of protection towards my younger brother that simply cannot be described in words. The movie accurately portrays Satya’s emotion of wanting to give her sibling the life and the stability she never had. But this is not the first time Dharma has shown us a badass elder daughter on-screen. Naina from Kal Ho Naa Ho and Anjali from K3G were the first few members of the ‘elder daughter’ club on-screen and we’ve all loved watching them! Followed by Aditi in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na who also banked on relatability and Ayesha from Dil Dhadakne Do who was healing herself from all trauma her family gave her, which also is something most elder daughters have to deal with by themselves.

Also Read: Jigra review: Vasan Bala gives this generation its much-awaited ‘Angry Young Woman’ in his own style!

So here’s a little something about why we loved these characters who give us major elder daughter energy!

Satya- Jigra

Life pulled down Satya more times than she could think of but she stood back up each time. More for her brother than for herself. At a very young age, she had to raise her sibling without any parental guidance at all, and when her brother was put in jail under false pretenses is when all hell broke loose for her. She went till the ends of the earth to bring him and that is the power of an elder daughter for you!

Naina- Kal Ho Naa Ho

Constant fights and negativity in the household made Naina feel like she could not be happy or live for herself. She was taking care of two younger siblings, a grieving mother and a bitter grandmother on top of that. She lived life at a very fast pace and never enjoyed it the way she’d wanted to until Aman came and showed her it's okay to let loose sometimes. She opened up to him like she never had to anyone because people often forget we elder daughters need someone to care about us too, and for Naina that was Aman.

Anjali- K3G

Anjali never ever let Pooh feel the absence of their father and made sure she got the best of everything. Be it an Ivy League education, the best of outfits and even the attitude that she wore on her sleeve. A lot of Pooh’s confidence comes from Anjali and the fact that she would literally scold anyone who made her sister feel any lesser!

Aditi- Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Aditi was Amit’s first best friend which is how it is for most younger siblings. The elder ones are their first friends, the one they look up to. Friends, family, partners they all come and go but your elder sibling will always be there for you no matter what, and Aditi and Amit’s relationship felt relatable to us in that sense. 

Ayesha- Dil Dhadakne Do

Here’s another thing about elder daughters: we also grasp a lot of our father’s traits. The temper, the business acumen or their outlook on life is directly proportional to what we’ve seen our fathers do. Ayesha portrayed that rather authentically! She started her own business, just like her father and brought it to the top, even though he rarely appreciated her for that. She fully had the choice of being dependent on her husband, but she had a very strong personality of her own, like most elder daughters do! She also was the one to keep the whole family in check when they were fully going cuckoo on the cruise.

Isri Kaur- Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

It was because of her sacrifices that her brother could pursue his passion and fulfil his dreams. The scene where he goes to her after years and shows her his medals will always remain in my head rent-free simply because of the happiness that we could see in her eyes to see her younger sibling succeed. That’s the thing about elder daughters: they’ll give their siblings more than they have so that they can achieve their goals without any hesitation.

Which of these elder daughters are your absolute favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

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