Avant-garde Bengali filmmakers seem to be lining up at Bollywood's doorstep with promises of tempting new cinema - and one such film has Deepti Naval pairing with Nana Patekar and Rekha.

Even as Rituparno Ghosh released his Ajay Devgan-Aishwarya Rai romance "Raincoat", he quietly finished shooting "Antar Mahal", which is in Bengali but has Abhishek Bachchan and Soha Ali Khan to give it a Bollywood ambience. It released last year.

Aparna Sen is doing her first Hindi film "Jewellery Box" with Govinda, Konkona Sen-Sharma, Soha Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore.

But it's Goutam Ghosh who's shooting his third Hindi film and will beat Sen to the theatres. The much-acclaimed Ghosh made "Paar" and "Patanga" in Hindi in the past. "Yatra" brings together Nana Patekar and Rekha for the first time.

Rekha plays a dancer and the fulcrum of Patekar's extramarital affair. Deepti Naval also makes a comeback in the powerful role of Patekar's wife.

Says Deepti: "I've worked with Nana on a number of occasions, including in Boney Kapoor's 'Shakti'. He's always a challenging co-star. But 'Yatra' is specially challenging. It's the story of three characters' strange journey.

"I always admired Goutam Ghosh's work. And now I've the chance to work with him. We're shooting the film in Hyderabad. After a long time I'm enthused by a role."

The actress has been keeping a low profile..."But not by choice. I can't accept mother roles until they're something with stature, like what Sharmila Tagore played in 'Viruddh' and Hema Malini in 'Baghban'.

"In fact the women always have a sizeable place in Amitabh Bachchan's films. I'm looking forward to being offered something with him," says the actress who has done substantial roles in films ranging from "Ek Baar Phir" to "Freaky Chakra".

"No one else could've played the zany woman who has an affair with a young boy in 'Freaky Chakra'," Deepti laughs. "I've a great sense of fun. But I've always been typecast as a serious actress. I don't mind. But Hindi cinema has to take me seriously."

Deepti was recently offered a role by Subhash Ghai. "But it had no substance to it. I had done a miniscule role for Subhash Ghai in 'Saudagar'. My one confrontation scene with Dilip Kumar had been chopped off. To his credit, Ghai gave me the option of opting entirely out of 'Saudagar'.

"But I can't get into wispy roles any more. I need to be used properly. That's why I'm so happy about 'Yatra' that I've undertaken with Gautam Ghosh."