Apple's new Diwali film has plenty going for it. There's Juhi Chawla. There are Raw Mango textiles, the walls of Tijara Fort and a 90s Bollywood song. But for one viewer, something is missing.
Titled “Shot on iPhone 18 Pro: Celebrating Diwali with ‘Step Into the Light',” the film features Chawla and a group of women performing a dance that mixes Indian steps and music with a modern twist, dressed in Raw Mango's textiles.
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X user (@beastoftraal) called it “visually stunning,” but said there was “something oddly outside-in about it.”
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“It celebrates the appearance of India without quite capturing the experience of being Indian,” he wrote. “It plays more like a luxury fashion film than a Diwali ad rooted in how the festival is actually lived.”
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‘Family, Rituals, Food, Noise'
The festival, he argued, is about much more than how it looks. “It's family, rituals, food, noise, neighborhoods, memories, and many small human moments,” he wrote. The film gets India's visual vocabulary right, which he said makes sense for a camera demo, but shows little interest in its “emotional texture.”
The China Comparison
The user set it against Apple's Chinese New Year films, naming ‘Three Minutes' (2018), ‘Daughter' (2020), ‘The Comeback' (2022), ‘Little Garlic' (2024) and ‘I Made a Mixtape for You' (2025). Those, he said, tell stories about Chinese families, relationships and tensions between generations, with the iPhone shown off through the story rather than the other way round.
‘Mixtape', he pointed out, uses similar ingredients: 90s songs, dance and nostalgia. But it follows a young man trying to avoid his family's marriage questions on the way home for the New Year. “Same toolkit, totally opposite result!!” he wrote.
Apple's new Diwali film (Step Into the Light) is visually stunning. But there's something oddly outside-in about it, despite Juhi Chawla. The ingredients are beautifully Indian... Raw Mango textiles, Tijara Fort, a 90s Bollywood song. The gaze *feels* international. It celebrates the appearance of India without quite capturing the experience of being Indian. It plays more like a luxury fashion film than a Diwali ad rooted in how the festival is actually lived. Diwali isn't just an aesthetically pleasing celebration of light. It's family, rituals, food, noise, neighborhoods, memories, and many small human moments. The film captures India's visual vocabulary beautifully (which makes sense for a camera demo), but it's far less interested in its emotional texture. The contrast with Apple's Chinese New Year films is striking. 'Three Minutes' (2018), 'Daughter' (2020), 'The Comeback' (2022), 'Little Garlic' (2024) and 'I Made a Mixtape for You' (2025) are built around recognizably Chinese people... relationships, family dynamics, inter-generational tension, etc. The festival isn't a backdrop, but woven into the story. The iPhone is shown off through the storytelling, not the other way around. 'Mixtape' is the telling illustration. It has the same ingredients as this Diwali film - 90s songs, dance, nostalgia. But they're built around a young man dodging his family's marriage questions on his way home for the New Year. Same toolkit, totally opposite result!! And it isn't about who's behind the camera. Several of the China films were directed by Westerners; the Diwali film was directed by an Indian. The gaze probably comes from the brief. So, China gets 15–20-minute short films. India gets an Instagram reel. YOu could argue that market size explains part of that. But still doesn't explain the difference in curiosity (or the lack of it). Apple's Chinese films are interested in what it feels like to be Chinese. Apple's Indian films are interested in what India looks like, as seen from the outside. P.S. The song, 'Roop Suhana Lagta Hai', is credited to Anu Malik, but it's A R Rahman's uncredited 'Ottagathai Kattiko' from the Tamil original. #advertising #marketing #deepavali #diwali
— Karthik ???????? (@beastoftraal) November 6, 2026
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He didn't blame the director. Several of the China films were made by Western directors, he said, while the Diwali film was directed by an Indian. “The gaze probably comes from the brief.”
“So, China gets 15–20-minute short films. India gets an Instagram reel,” he added, conceding that market size could explain part of the gap.
A Note on the Song
The user also flagged the music. The song, ‘Roop Suhana Lagta Hai', is credited to Anu Malik, but according to him, it is A R Rahman's uncredited ‘Ottagathai Kattiko' from the Tamil original.
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