[Above: Film still from For Real, and photos of the two child actors and director Sona Jain.]

HER very first film bagged four awards but the road to success was not an easy one.

Debutante award-winning Indian director, Ms Sona Jain, spoke of the "humiliation" and rejections faced when making a film for the very first time.

The 34-year-old, who is based in both New Delhi and Mumbai, took home four awards at the Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF) awards ceremony, which was held at the Raffles Hotel Ballroom last Friday.

"Indie films are such a humiliating experience," says Sona.

Her achievements that night included: Best Screenplay, Best Producer, Best Actor and Best Actress for her film, For Real.

Her debut film, which took eight years to complete, tells the story of a family seen through the eyes of a child.

Sona, who holds a Masters in Fine Arts from New York University, spoke to AsiaOne at the gala dinner event and spilled the beans on her experience as a first-time film director, producer and writer. She also tells us about her difficulties, choices and future plans.

Four awards! So how does it feel?

The audience responses to the film have been amazing. It was overwhelming and took me by surprise because I realised there is a whole world out there who actually likes this film!

You lose sight of this because you just focus on making the movie and to win these four awards, it's very magical and such a testament and encouragement for a first-time filmmaker.

I started writing the script in September 2001. It's been an eight-year-long journey and when I look at these four awards, it's just been worth every bit of it.

What difficulties did you face besides budget issues?

As a writer and director, I was blessed because I attracted quality people. Getting the people on board was ok; getting the money was the difficulty.

I looked very young then and as a South-East Asian woman in America, they were skeptical in putting money into this "little girl".

Best Actor: Sriharsh Sharma Churai, 13.

I was eventually lucky. I had really good investors who believed in me and in this film and they backed it up 200%.

I was blessed. I went out and managed to get about 25 sponsorships for everything from cellphones to clothes, makeup, light fixtures and even to furniture.

[Background: The cast and crew for her film include well-known actress Sarita Choudhury as the lead, multiple Grammy award-winning composer Zakir Hussain, and Deborah Mollison, one of the biggest composers in the UK.]

How much did you spend to make this film?

I can't talk about the budget but, take it for granted that it is a very small budget and, if I were to tell you, you'd be very surprised.