Beginning with a Grand Prix and then adding up metals close to last year’s total tally in just five categories by Day 3 has made for an exciting start for India. The fact that there are five more categories to go only adds to the buzz that Indian creative directors are experiencing at Cannes this year. Has the line-up of only Bronzes on Tuesday dampened the excitement a bit following the Grand Prix high? Indian creative directors don’t think so and are enthusiastic about the Indian story at Cannes Lions 2008.

“There still are Press, Films and Integrated to go. And then there is the Design category this year,” said K.V. Sridhar (Pops), NCD, Leo Burnett. He added, “The beginning has been great and India has every reason to go on cheering.” Added Mahesh Chauhan, President, Rediffusion DYR, “This is the first Grand Prix that India has won and, yes, it is important to see how the other categories are faring but winning a Bronze isn’t a small thing either. The festival is still on, and so the celebration should be on.”

The expectations from the Press Lions are high. Indian agencies are expecting quite a few metals including the ‘big’ ones. India would beat its own previous tallies and agency executives are betting between 18 to 20 Lions this year. In comparison to the 12 that India took home last year, this wouldn’t be a bad number at all.

“The year is going very well for India and I think we have already achieved the right momentum. We have every reason to be proud of every metal we win. Some of the international markets have been at Cannes for years now. India is relatively new in that sense and doing well,” stated Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal.

In the meanwhile, delegates are enjoying themselves at Cannes, some with their better halves. Prasoon Joshi is here with his wife, as is Roshan Abbas. Nita Pandey is there like every year with O&M’s Piyush Pandey. Mudra’s Madhukar Kamath is here with his wife and so are Mahesh Chauhan and Airtel’s R Chandrasekhar. It is party time and no one is crashing before the wee morning hours.