Tag: tv

Unlock with a look

iPhone X Commercial: Unlock with a look ft Bollywood song sample by @petecannon #ListenToRadha #iPhoneX #UnlockWithALook

My son has recently mastered the game of Uno so we typically sit down after dinner to play as a family. The tv is usually playing in the background, tuned to some harmless network channel, mostly as a light source in an otherwise dimly lit living room (you know, for ambiance). Recently, during one of our intensely competitive rounds of gameplay, I heard this distinctly Desi sounding song coming from the tv, and glanced up to see this iPhone X commercial.

I immediately hit rewind (thank you Xfinity X1) and Shazam’d the commercial, confirming my initial hunch. The wordless ad features a young woman unlocking various items with just a look, alluding to how amazing it is that the iPhone X is able to be unlocked with facial recognition (Full disclosure: I have an iPhone X and the Face ID only works about 60% of the time) all to the early 80s era, Bollywood pop hit, inspired song “Bang Bang” by Pete Cannon.

He’s British which explains the Indian music, ’cause we all know that England continues to be the motherland for all Desis. The cover art features a mendhi inspired drawing with the author’s name and track title running across it. I can’t seem to find much more about him online, so if anyone knows what his connection is to the Brown world or how he happened to stumble upon this sample, I’m curious to know more!

The YouTube page includes the credit: The track “Bang Bang” features a sample of “Meri Nazar Hai Tujh Pe’” sung by Asha Bhosle music by R.D. Burman and lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi licensed courtesy of Saregama PLC. The original song itself borrows some influence from Spanish Flamenco which of course is par for the old school Bollywood course; they are well known for “borrowing” influence in their songs/films. Also, the movie it was in is called “The Burning Train“. This just gets weirder and weirder!

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Campbells® Star Wars soup | New Kids

The tv was on in the background while I was doing dishes and the kids were playing with Viraj. All of a sudden, we heard a little kid speaking Hindi and everyone immediately froze and turned to the tv to see what was going on. The above commercial was playing and just as soon as we all realized what was happening, it was over. Just like that, 15 seconds and it was done.

We get a glimpse into a new immigrant’s experience of lunch time in a school where he doesn’t speak the language. Equally as important is the fact that the other child sitting across from Krish is also an immigrant and does not speak English. They bond over their shared love/language of Star Wars. The fact that it was Campbell’s soup doesn’t really  make sense because let’s face it, pasta in soup out of a can is a very American concept that newly immigrated families probably aren’t packing for their kids’ lunches.

Seeing this commercial made me feel hopeful for my kids, who though can speak English, have their own immigrant experience that they bring with them to the lunch table. We’ve come a long way from the days when my sister and I would bring Indian food to school for lunch and the white kids would make fun of us.