MUMBAI: It's celebration time for the Indian contingent (and it's a big one that) at the ongoing Cannes advertising festival.

Good old Ogilvy and Mather India (O&M) and new kid on the 'Cannes' block McCann Erickson have provided the quality thus far laying claim to two Gold Lions and Silver Lions in the print and outdoor categories.

O&M won one Gold and two Silvers while McCann took home one Gold.

Ogilvy & Mather India has won one Gold and two Silvers for the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) campaign. O&M India's 'Cancer cures smoking' and 'Asterix' for the CPAA has already generated tremendous interest. O&M had nine shortlisted entries in the print and outdoor categories.

McCann, meanwhile, struck gold for its "Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola" press campaign in the non-alcoholic drinks category. The 'Man In The Shadow' and 'Barber Shop' ads were the ones that collectively bagged the honours earlier today.

The low key campaign released in the Indian Express' supplement Mumbai Newsline earlier this year. One featured a man standing in the shadow of a Coke van while the other had a barber using a Coke bottle filled with water to wet a customer's hair.

When contacted at the McCann Mumbai offices, art director Akshay Kapnadak said the whole team was keeping its fingers crossed for the results of the TVC category which are to be declared on Friday. That will be the day when the far more celebrated Aamir Khan Coke ad competes with others in its category for top honours. McCann-Erickson India creative head honcho Prasoon Joshi's fears about "foreigners" not understanding the India-centric nuances of the campaign featuring Bollywood hero Khan may have probably been assuaged just a wee bit by the Lion pocketed by the agency today.

This year India has 428 entries ensuring that "aamchi Bharat" has made it to the Top 10 list at least in terms of quantity. Entries from the Indian ad industry follow those from the US, Germany, UK, Brazil, Spain, France, Japan, South Africa and Canada. A record number of entries (29) from India were shortlisted in the print and outdoor categories alone this year.

Three jury members from India are going to The International Advertising Festival Cyber Lions 2003. Among these are ex-Carat CEO Meenakshi Madhvani, a member of the management committee of The Advertising Club Bombay, Wunderman India CEO Rajat Sethi and DIREM Marketing Services MD Vivek Basrur. The Times of India group chose Ashish Rajyawardhan Pathak as the only Indian participant in the prestigious Cannes Lions Academy workshop for students.

Looks as if the good news has just started filtering in. The Indian flag seems to be fluttering even as adman Piyush Pandey has set his sights high on ensuring that "We have to get a Grand Prix home!"