New Delhi: Apple's latest Diwali campaign featuring Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla has sparked a discussion on cultural representation, with social media users debating whether its lavish visuals capture the spirit of the festival or offer an exaggerated interpretation of India.
Titled 'Step Into the Light', the campaign features a folk-inspired rendition of the 1990s hit 'Roop Suhana Lagta Hai', elaborate dance sequences and performers dressed in traditional Indian textiles. Shot at Rajasthan's Tijara Fort, the film also features a surprise appearance by Juhi Chawla, who originally featured in the song in the 1994 film 'The Gentleman'.
While the campaign has attracted attention for its visual presentation and nostalgic music, several comments on social media have questioned its choreography, styling and portrayal of Indian traditions. The responses have also prompted a wider conversation about whether festive campaigns should focus on elaborate visuals or tell stories that reflect everyday Indian life.
How Apple's Chinese New Year ads compare with its Diwali film
The campaign has prompted a comparison between Apple's approach to Indian festive advertising and its Chinese New Year campaigns.
The company's Chinese New Year films, including 'Three Minutes' (2018), 'Daughter' (2020), 'The Comeback' (2022), 'Little Garlic' (2024) and 'I Made a Mixtape for You' (2025), have used family relationships, generational differences and everyday social situations as the foundation of their stories.
Rather than relying primarily on festive imagery, these films place the celebrations within recognizable personal experiences, with the iPhone's camera capabilities demonstrated through the storytelling.
One example is 'I Made a Mixtape for You', which combines 1990s music, dance and nostalgia with the story of a young man returning home for the New Year while navigating his family's questions about marriage.
The storytelling in these films has become a point of comparison, with greater emphasis on narrative and family relationships in Apple's Chinese New Year advertisements than in its Indian festive campaigns. Communications strategy consultant Karthik highlighted this difference, describing Apple's approach to its Diwali campaign as “outside-in”, with greater emphasis on the visual representation of Indian culture than on the everyday experiences and emotions associated with the festival.
The nostalgia behind Apple's Diwali campaign
The campaign's central musical attraction is 'Roop Suhana Lagta Hai', composed by Anu Malik for the 1994 Hindi film 'The Gentleman', starring Chiranjeevi and Juhi Chawla.
The original song was sung by SP Balasubrahmanyam and KS Chithra, with lyrics by Indeevar. The Hindi film was a remake of director Shankar's 1993 Tamil film 'Gentleman', with the melody adapted from AR Rahman's 'Ottagathai Kattiko'.
Apple's campaign gives the familiar track a folk-inspired treatment, with dancers performing choreography that blends traditional and contemporary movements.
The costumes draw on textile traditions from across India, including Mashru, Varanasi brocades and Chanderi. Juhi Chawla appears towards the end of the film in a series of festive looks.
Directed by Sanjay Garg, founder of fashion label Raw Mango, the campaign was filmed at Tijara Fort, a restored 19th-century royal palace in Rajasthan.
Speaking about the campaign, Garg said Diwali was the biggest festival of the year for him, representing a change in weather and an opportunity to welcome winter with loved ones. He said the idea evolved from celebrating physical sources of light, such as diyas, to capturing the optimism associated with being in the light.
Social media users discuss Apple's portrayal of Indian culture
Beyond its music and visual presentation, the campaign has also drawn differing responses over its interpretation of Indian traditions. Some viewers have debated whether the elaborate visuals reflect the diversity and everyday experiences associated with Indian festivals, while others have described aspects of the presentation as exaggerated.
Karthik argued that the campaign celebrates the appearance of India without capturing what it feels like to be Indian.
He pointed to the combination of Raw Mango textiles, Tijara Fort and a familiar Bollywood song, saying the result resembled a luxury fashion film more than an advertisement rooted in the way people experience Diwali.
He argued that the festival's emotional texture lies in family gatherings, rituals, food, neighborhood celebrations and personal memories, elements he felt were missing from the campaign.
Ankit Bhuptani, founder of QueerHA, raised a similar concern, saying the film reflected how outsiders imagine India rather than how Indians experience their own culture.
“Representation is not the same as understanding,” he wrote on X.
The discussion ultimately raises a broader question about how global brands approach India's festivals: whether elaborate cultural imagery is enough, or whether audiences also look for stories that connect with their everyday experiences.