In my opinion, 17 acts as a bridge between adolescence and adulthood where an individual learns to embrace his true-self and moulds as a secure and rational version of themselves. One such on-screen character who fantastically illustrated this transformation is Otis Milburn from the popular British series Sex Education (2019-2023). Played by Asa Butterfield, Otis is introduced as an insecure, socially-awkward teenager with a heart of gold who can go to any lengths to help out his friends. In the course of the series, Otis steadily unfolds myriad layers of his personality which enable him to master his fears as well as strengthen his bond with his sweetheart, Maeve. His remarkable honesty is evident in his words and actions, adding brilliance to his personality. The fact that he showed up at the abortion clinic with a bouquet of flowers for Maeve truly expresses his unconditional love for her. The monologue which he delivers at the end of season one beautifully sums up the true nature of love which is never about grand gestures but heartfelt efforts. (Add to the list of seminal 17-year-olds on screen... February 2)

Aayman Anwar Ali

As far as a 17-year-old character on the silver screen is concerned, I get reminded of the 1960 Satyajit Ray classic Devi which revolved around the religious bigotry and patriarchy prevalent in 19th century rural Bengal. It portrayed how blind faith and silly superstitions posed a severe psychological toll upon a newly-married woman and brought all-around destruction to the family. A young Sharmila Tagore brought to life the character of the 17-year-old Dayamoyee in an excellent way.

Kajal Chatterjee

Bella Swan from the iconic Twilight series is a seminal 17-year-old character on screen. Coming from the sunny city of Phoenix, when Bella lands in a small town called Forks, constantly covered by clouds and rain. She has a hard time adjusting there. It is here she gets to know about the Cullen family and their hidden identity. Sparks fly between her and Edward. But she finds herself at the crossroads when she has to choose between a life as a human or as a vampire. She taught us that when it comes to making a choice, we need to listen to our heart.

Rumana Sarkar

Auli’i Cravalho was 22 years old when she played 17-year-old Janis, the first friend Cady makes at North Shore High in the movie Mean Girls (2024). Janis has few friends. Though she is a kind person, she is bitter towards the ‘Plastics’, a group of toxic teens in their school.

Dayita Chakraborty

I want to add to the t2 list the character named Caroline Forbes from the American supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries, which is portrayed by Candice King in the show.

Sourish Misra