A surprising collaboration for Apple. TBWA\Media Arts Lab’s Diwali Shot on iPhone, Step Into the Light, was made in collaboration with Indian fashion brand, Raw Mango. It was also shot entirely on Apple iPhone 18 Pro, directed by Raw Mango founder, Sanjay Garg, and features the brand’s clothing. The film captures how India looks during the festival of light, set at Tijara Fort, a restored 19th-century royal palace in Rajasthan.

Raw Mango was founded in 2008 by the textile designer, and is best known known for its innovations, sharp cultural commentary and deeply considered takes on Indian textiles.

“Diwali, for me, is the biggest festival of the year,” Sanjay Garg stated. “It represents a change in weather where we welcome winter in the company of people we love.” The annual multi-day festival of lights also symbolises the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.

The musical video is built around the refrain of a folk interpretation of Anu Malik’s iconic ’90s song, roop suhana lagta hai (this form looks beautiful), and celebrates light on the year’s darkest night. Through dance, it captures the move from darkness into light, stepping out in your most vibrant, beautiful form.

The collaboration comes as the fashion brand steps onto the global stage, following its first international runway show at London Fashion Week earlier this year. The wardrobe brings together textile traditions from across the subcontinent, from Mashru to Varanasi brocades to Chanderi in hues that harmonize with the colors of the iPhone 18 Pro.

With light at the centre of Diwali, the film was shot in low light to showcase the most advanced camera Apple has ever made. The 48MP Fusion Main camera on iPhone 18 Pro brings variable aperture to iPhone for the first time, with six laser-cut blades that automatically adjust for depth of field and lighting and a new sensor. Smart focus tracking uses on-device intelligence to let you lock onto a performer and keep them in focus, even if they leave and re-enter the frame as they move through highly synchronised choreography by the Big Dance Centre troupe.

The film debuted November 4 on Apple’s global Instagram and Apple India’s YouTube channel, ahead of Diwali. A behind-the-scenes film, available November 4 on Instagram Stories, shows Garg at work on set using iPhone 18 Pro.

“The concept evolved from the idea of celebrating literal lights, like diyas, to also capture the optimistic feeling of being in the light. The phrasing ‘Step into…’ is a call to join the celebratory atmosphere that grips the country during the festival…Our aesthetic is a philosophy that’s evolved over time and has an impact on everything we create. Whether it’s dance, textile, handloom, architecture – what interests us is blending the historical with the contemporary. In this film, every element reflects that worldview,” Garg commented.

“With the low light capabilities of the iPhone 18 Pro, we thought Diwali would be the perfect fit. Diwali is a celebration of light because it’s the darkest night of the year. We wanted to see what the phone could capture, in as many configurations of lighting as possible…To us, every form, every roop, is beautiful. Which is why we chose to work with dancers from across the country, representing different regions and cultural backgrounds, each celebrating this festival in their own way. “

Director of Photography, Janamejaya Daroz, added,  “The ability to work with a shallow depth of field was particularly useful in the low-light conditions we were shooting in. We shot a lot of the film at the widest aperture, f/1.48, which helped us draw attention to the individual dancers and play with interesting compositions in the frame.

“ We had these larger groups of dancers, and we could select one dancer and track them as they moved through the choreography, even between pillars and other elements in the frame. The ability to maintain focus on a specific subject in such a constantly changing environment was really impressive…It was really impressive to shoot a group of dancers and have the iPhone track one individual through all the movement, even as they moved in and out of the frame. It gave us the freedom to experiment with the choreography and composition, knowing we could keep our chosen subject in focus.”

Credits:
Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab (India)
Creators: Raw Mango
Director: Sanjay Garg
Production Company: April Studios
Post-Production Company: Raw Mango & Heckler
Editing: Anupam Sarkar
Director of Photography: Janamejaya Daroz