What made you choose the two child actors who won the Best Actor awards?

I wanted to cast kids who were very natural. The good thing about casting kids is you can hope to walk away with great performances but they shouldn't have acted before because if they have, they've been influenced.

We auditioned a lot of kids. Zoya stole my heart the first time i I saw her. I saw her from a distance and my heart skipped a beat. Interestingly, when she came in for the audition, she was really bad. But, we rehearsed for one and a half months every single day.

As for Sriharsh, he was a natural; he was a real actor. I'm so proud of both of them for winning these two awards.

Best Actress: Zoya S. Hasan

What future plans do you have?

I'm directing my next film. It's called Delhi Aaah. It's five stories set in Delhi and about women in their early 30s. It's a slice of urban India which is not represented in cinemas yet and I'm very proud of this one.

It has a beautiful script. We shoot it next year.

What advice can you give to aspiring filmmakers?

Just do it. The more the world says no, you say yes.

Indie films are such a humiliating experience. You get humiliated and you have the door slammed in your face. But if you believe it, just persevere, no matter how hard it gets, just don't stop.

If you don't give up on life, then life will eventually come through for you.