Apple has marked Diwali with a dance film shot entirely on iPhone 18 Pro, mostly in low light. It’s directed by Raw Mango founder Sanjay Garg and set inside Tijara Fort in Rajasthan. Dancers move from darkness into light to a folk version of the 1994 song “Roop Suhana Lagta Hai.” The film is called “Step Into the Light.”
A Fort, a Song and a Cameo
The film was shot at Tijara Fort, a restored 19th-century royal palace in Rajasthan. Performers from different parts of India move through its courtyards and halls in synchronised formations, with choreography by the Big Dance Centre troupe blending traditional and contemporary styles.
The music is a folk reinterpretation of “Roop Suhana Lagta Hai,” composed by Anu Malik for the 1994 film The Gentleman. Actor Juhi Chawla, who starred in The Gentleman, makes a cameo.
Diwali Without the Usual Props
Most Diwali ads lean on diyas, marigolds and sweets. This one leaves them out. It tells the festival’s story through textiles, dance, architecture, music and light, moving from the dark of the year’s darkest night to the glow of celebration.
ThePrint’s Triya Gulati noted that viewers may briefly forget they are watching a smartphone ad at all.
Textiles as the Set
The costumes carry much of the film. Raw Mango dressed the cast in Indian weaves, including Mashru, Varanasi brocades and Chanderi, in colours picked to complement the iPhone 18 Pro.
Garg founded Raw Mango in 2008 as a label that reworks Indian handlooms and crafts through modern design. The brand made its international runway debut at London Fashion Week this year.
The Camera Doing the Work
The low-light setting is the product demo. The iPhone 18 Pro’s 48MP Fusion Main camera brings variable aperture to iPhone for the first time, using six laser-cut blades that adjust automatically and open up to ƒ/1.48 in dim conditions. A new sensor improves low-light performance further.
Smart focus tracking uses on-device intelligence to keep a chosen dancer in focus, even when they leave the frame and come back. The film shows both features in action without stopping to explain them.
What the Director Said
“Diwali, for me, is the biggest festival of the year,” Garg said. “It represents a change in weather where we welcome winter in the company of people we love.”
Where It Ran
The film debuted in the first week of November, ahead of Diwali, on Apple’s global Instagram and Apple India’s YouTube channel. A behind-the-scenes film on Instagram Stories shows Garg directing on set with the iPhone 18 Pro.
TBWA\Media Arts Lab India conceptualised the campaign. April Studios produced it, with post-production by Raw Mango and Heckler. Anupam Sarkar edited the film, and Janamejaya Daroz was director of photography.
The film’s darkest scenes do the selling. Every frame shot in near darkness is a test of the camera, and the film passes it without a single line about specs.
Campaign Name: Step Into the Light (Shot on iPhone)
Agency Name: TBWA\Media Arts Lab India
Brand Name: Apple (with Raw Mango)
Location: India
