I'm suprised many people didn't mention it but hands down the best characterisation & growth I've seen has been Rani in Queen! The way she evolves throughout the movie looks so natural and not the least bit out of place!
The others are in no particular order:
Shashi (Sridevi) from English Vinglish (Our moms & grandmom's have gone through, it was as real as it could get)
Shruti (Illeana) from Barfi (the selfishness showed me how real her character was)
Farhan (Madhavan) from 3 idiots (the way he sacrifices his dream for his dad, and then comes around and confesses, it was all so relatable!)
Siddharth's character in RDB - that last scene of him shooting his father! So hard hitting
Each and every character of TZP- that movie was so brutally honest! Each & every character you have met throughout your life.
Each and every character of DLKH- that movie is fantastic because of how amazing all of the characters were! How Sandhya & Prem grow throughout the movie is so so amazing to watch!
The girls from CDI- I loved all of them! Whether it was Preeti Sabarwal giving it back to her ass of a fianc or Bindiya being the arrogant experienced one!
Kashibai (PC) from BM- there is a reason why people came out falling in love with Kashibai! SLB did so well with her character, showing the growth without letting the backwardness of that time go.
Anjali (Kajol) from K3G - She's shown to be a character who is so full of life! That attitude doesn't change throughout the film, even after she matures!
The DCH boys
I love Geet but I don't get why geet or Naina were taken as good characterisations! How geet from that full of life girl almost became a nun types lol, or Naina turning from the geek to the sexy bombshell - never could relate to that thing! IMO I never can see how that kind of drastic growth happens, it was too filmy for me!
ETA:
Farhan's & Konkona's characters from LBC are ones I loved too!
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