Over 500 million images have been generated globally since the Nano Banana trend began, and India is among the “top countries” using it right now. Yes, it’s the trend that should have been called Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. So why is it called Nano Banana, and how does it connect with India like few other countries?


Here’s the inside scoop. “It was 2am. We had to submit a name for an external website anonymously. The website is called LMArena,” David Sharon, multimodal generation lead, Gemini apps, told a select group of journalists over a video call.

In short, LMArena is an online platform where users can compare and evaluate different large language models (LLMs) and other AI models by engaging in side-by-side battles.


“When we develop a model, we put it there for free to be voted on. There are two models and people don’t know which model is which, and they vote on the better one. When we submitted, we didn’t want to put the real name. So a teammate said, why not something fun? How about Nano Banana? To our surprise, the name went viral,” said Sharon.

Localisation is key


In case you are new to the concept of Nano Banana, it’s about playing around with images. You may have seen friends posting on social media photos of grandparents in which colours look vibrant and spots on these old prints have been removed. Or you may have seen a scaled-down model of your friend in front of a computer.


All you need to do is have a Google account and log in to Gemini, where a few prompts do the trick. The Gemini Flash 2.5 Image model usually churns out edited images in under 30 seconds, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5 sometimes takes more than three times as long to handle the same requests.


Nano Banana is finding takers in almost every country. For India, certain prompts are turning out to be special, like the “retro look”. Google says there has been a wave of retro and vintage-inspired portraits. Think warm film grain, dreamy lighting, and soft-focus effects evoking a 90s movie vibe. Users are experimenting with prompts for light, mood, and fabric details to create surprisingly nostalgic results.


“We love seeing the localisation that’s happening in India. There are some trends that are global, such as the figurine trend. But there are some trends specific to India, like the ‘retro trend’. It’s taking off in India and is unique to the country,” said Sharon.

Safety first


Anything to do with artificial intelligence can be misused, but Google has taken quite a few steps to ensure there is watermarking that cannot be removed. In fact, there are two types of watermarking involved.

First, the simple Gemini logo that comes with the AI-assisted photo. Second, a watermark that cannot be seen.


“There is a visible watermark but users can crop it out. Second, there is an invisible watermark; it’s something called SynthID. Even if you crop or edit the image, or even send it to a third-party editing app, the SynthID will be detectable. It’s unbreakable. Right now only Google can detect SynthID,” said Sharon.


SynthID uses two deep learning models — for watermarking and identifying — that have been trained together on a diverse set of images. The combined model is optimised on a range of objectives, including correctly identifying watermarked content and improving imperceptibility by visually aligning the watermark to the original content.


Since SynthID is an important tool, Google has something called SynthID Detector, a verification portal to quickly identify AI-generated content made with Google AI.
“The platform is at the moment with trusted testers, researchers, and other experts in the area. We want to create a consumer offering where anybody can ask if an image is AI-generated or not. We want to get it right,” Sharon.


And you can take Nano Banana a step further. For example, first restore old family photos and memories. You can then take your creations a step further. Upload the edited image back into Gemini to create a video with Veo 3. See your great-grandparents “come to life” in an eight-second video.

You can use these prompts

• Transform the subject into a classic Bollywood heroine in a flowing red chiffon sari. Background should be warm-toned, minimalist.
• Hyper-realistic portrait. Look: Navy blue shirt, white trousers, loafers, sunglasses. Action: Adjusting his sunglasses with one hand. Setting: Beachside balcony with ocean waves behind.
• Ultra-realistic cinematic street portrait in a narrow American city street, blurred storefronts, pedestrians as soft silhouettes. Subject standing in the middle of the street, slightly angled, confident gaze. Wearing a black overcoat and a black scarf.
• Turn this person into a 90s retro-inspired portrait wearing a shimmering black chiffon saree. The background is a deep wall with dramatic shadows, lit by golden-hour tones.
• Reimagine this person as the star of a 1990s Bollywood movie poster. Bold typography behind him, spotlight lighting. Expression is intense, cinematic, and larger than life.
• Portrait of the man in profile view, balancing a red and white Nike Premier League football on the forehead, looking upwards with full concentration. The posture is upright and confident. He is wearing a professional football kit, including a fitted jersey and shorts, adding to the athletic and focused look.