As we enthusiastically begin day one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, looking forward to this year's big talk points, there's one major disappointment.

India's performance at the festival so far.

Shortlists for 22 out of the 31 categories have been revealed. India has just 17 shortlists across those 22 categories.

Now, before anyone accuses this column of being overly pessimistic, remember that nine categories are still to be announced, one of which is Film. With three shortlists in the 'Film Craft' category, we could (read: hopefully) reach 'decent' numbers (but nowhere close to the 85 from last year).

But it is difficult to ignore the early warning signs.

Over the last few years, India has steadily built a reputation as one of the world's most exciting creative markets. Agencies have spoken confidently about the quality of work being produced, clients have become more ambitious, and the industry has celebrated a string of global successes. Expectations, therefore, were naturally higher.

Perhaps that's exactly why the current numbers feel disappointing.

The reality is that winning at Cannes has become tougher than ever. There have been stringent checks. The teams are reaching out to agency heads, CMOs, and sometimes even CEOs from the brand side to verify claims made in the entries.

We don't know whether the poor showing so far results from this change or from the work just not making the cut. But after Indian agencies performed well at Spikes Asia (Leo India bagged APAC Creative Agency of the Year), dominated the shortlist count for the APAC Effies, won big at Adfest (Dentsu Creative won a Grand Lotus en route to winning 'South Asia Agency of the Year'), and some good work shone across local award shows like the Good Ads Matter Awards, Abbys, and Kyoorius, expectations were high as we arrived in the South of France.

We'll also get the official entry numbers from India (we usually have them before the festival starts, but haven't found them yet this year). Perhaps, there is a drastic drop in entries. The overall global entry count for the festival this year is 25% lesser. 

But if that's not the case, then this week there's going to be some serious introspection. 

Has the work being created in the rest of the world surpassed Asia by such a big margin? Are we producing enough work that can genuinely compete with the best in the world? Are clients willing to back bold ideas? Are agencies prioritising creativity over process? 

As the festival begins, the conversation should not just be about what happens on stage, on the Croisette, or at the countless parties. It should be about the work.

Because ultimately, that's what brought all of us here in the first place.

The author is founder and editor, Manifest.