Preity Zinta has an art attack

32-year-old Preity wants to land a National Award before her career ends, a friend said. "She was offered a couple of big budget films but she declined those to concentrate on these roles," a friend said.

All three films are with regional directors who have won National Awards. Rituparno's The Last Lear is a Bangla-Hindi bilingual and stars Amitabh Bachchan playing a fading Shakespearean actor. The film is based on a play by Utpal Dutt. It has the glamourous actress with minimal make-up and simple costumes. She plays a theatre actress and sports saris, open hair and a bindi throughout the film.

"This is the first time Preity's doing this," the friend said. Jahnu Barua picked Urmila Matondkar for Maine Gandhi... and the actress won acclaim for the first time. Though not much has been made public about Barua's Har Pall with Preity, it will not be song-and-dance fare. "Definitely not a mainstream film," the friend said.

Malayalam director Shaji Karun's Suryamukhi is on 19th century artist Raja Ravi Verma. Karun had Vidya Balan and Madhuri Dixit decline the lead in his film because it required a nude scene.

Preity agreed to do the role, playing Verma's Maharashtrian muse. Producer Bobby Bedi (Saathiya, Mangal Pandey) announced later that there won't be any nude scene in his film now. R Madhavan has been signed opposite the 32 year old actress to play the painter.

"Amongst Preity's contemporaries - Aishwarya, Rani, Kareena and even Urmila and Sushmita have been praised for roles with acclaimed directors," the friend said, "Preity was never taken seriously and confined only to glamourous roles. She's clear about why she's doing this now."