The hunt received almost 100,000 entries last year and this time round it has added a host of new elements to keep the ‘Hungama’ quotient intact.

It has introduced the concept of ‘School Champion’ (one from each school), wherein a student that influences the maximum number of his or her peers to participate in the hunt would automatically be eligible for a direct entry to the city level auditions.

Additionally the seven winning captains will be the faces of Hungama TV and will have the opportunity to anchor shows on the channel, feature in various ground promotions run by the channel.

Hungama TV has made children an integral part of all key decisions from research to programming, which has been a great success for the channel.

The Captains' Hunt will evaluate each child on parameters beyond academics. Creativity, confidence, articulation, out-of-the-box thinking and teamwork will be some of the judging criteria. The auditions will consist of three rounds – self-introduction, talent hunt and mental puzzle, post which the final selection will be done.

The intense school contact program would cover approximately 300,000 students in 320 schools across seven cities. Another 280 schools would be informed about the hunt through a direct mailing exercise.