With the lean season for soft drinks just about setting in-summer is over and the festival season is still to begin-the cola jingles are jangling again. Here's the buzz.

On August 7, Coca Cola India firmly and formally took Coke to the movies. Released on prime time television, on the eve of Raksha Bandhan, was the new Coke ad which capitalises on the popular song, ``Aati Kya Khandala?'' from the film Ghulam. Set in a college corridor packed with young adults with attitude, the catchy 45-second soundtrack simulates Aamir Khan's mawali staccato in Ghulam, with Coke's own peppy version: ``Peeti Kya Coca Cola?'' Next, early this week, Pepsi plans to regain the high ground in the ``Govinda Ala Re'' battle. Slated for a prime time release is a ``more superior version''of Pepsi's Sachin Tendulkar ad, `Sachin Ala Re', which was swiftly taken off the air when Coke launched its controversial ``Coke Ala Re'' ad last week.

This time, while an extra cautious Prahlad Kakkar -- the ad filmmaker who made the Pepsi film featuring Tendulkar -- is determined to keep the storyboard and soundtrack secret till the last possible moment, it is believed that the new ``reworked'' version essentially celebrates the success Sachin Tendulkar has enjoyed in 1998 -- and boosts the Pepsi brand, of course -- in traditional locales and with a focus on Indian culture. Pertinently, last week, Pepsi's advertising agency, HTA, moved the Advertising Standards Council of India and the Advertising Agencies Association of India, alleging plagarisation of its `Sachin Ala Re' creative by Coke's advertising agency, Chaitra Leo Burnett, in its `Coke Ala Re' commercial.

Last week also saw a can of hostilities burst open between the two cola brands, Coke and Pepsi, with the former spoofing the latter'smosquito ad. The Pepsi ad, which was originally used to celebrate the launch of the new Pepsi can in New York in January 1998, showed an animated star -- Machchar, a hip-shaking' mosquito -- lip-sync to a Mick Jagger song.

In the Indian version of the Pepsi ad released late in July, the Machchar is rock'n'rollin' to an old Hindi favourite ``Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai''. The commercial ends with the Machchar squashed by the new Pepsi can-with his last breath he screams Yahoo, a la Shammi Kapoor -- and the blurb `Watch out for the new Pepsi can.' Even though the new Pepsi can debuted in India in April 1998, Pepsi only released this ad recently to generate interest in the new can in the lean season.

However, early last week Coca Cola India decided to bug Pepsi with its own Machchar. This time, the mosquito jives to ``Roop Tera Mastana'' -- and none too subtle, saves himself from falling into a blue (Pepsi) can marked Generation Lost, while crooning ``Bhool Kahin Hamse Na Ho Jaye''. Promoting the blue Thums Upcan, the commercial then advises ``Don't be a Machchar, Taste the Thunder.''

Pertinently, Coca-Cola India's sudden creative interest in Hindi film songs is not pure coincidence. So far, the cola brands from its stable have enjoyed an urban elite bias in their creative content-right from Thums Up's bungee-jumping ad, to the Coke can's vending machine ad, or Coke's girls' locker-room party ad.

Now, the effort is very clearly to move down the pyramid and widen the cola brands' appeal to potential cola drinkers in B and C Plus Category towns-through the popular idiom of Hindi film songs. While August 7 also saw Coke signing on Karishma Kapoor as a celebrity endorser, the last fortnight has seen Coca Cola India dip into the Hindi film music juke-box thrice -- Govinda Ala Re, Aati Kya Khandala, and Roop Tera Mastana -- for Thums Up and Coke.

Meanwhile, Pepsi, which has already sed film stars like Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan now hopes to generate a whoe lot of excitement through its SachinTendulkar connection. For both Coke and Pepsi though, the sudden rash of competitive filmi commercials marks a determined bid to ramp up sales in the lean season for soft drinks. For the cola drinker of course, from machchars to mawalis, it's just more canned laughter.