Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Guarded

Nov. 3: An al Qaida threat to Brangelina! The rumour mills ran amok today after a US tabloid raised the alarm.

The issue of security has been top of every mind ever since Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrived in Pune a month ago to shoot for A Mighty Heart, based on the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

But till today, the only juicy bits thrown up by this aspect of the visit were the rather one-sided confrontations between journalists and the couple’s foreign bodyguards.

So nerves began tingling when news spread about a report in the American National Enquirer. It said British security experts had been flown to Pune after Pakistan sounded an alert that the Hollywood couple could be targeted.

Many suggested this wasn’t at all unexpected. After all Jolie’s film may well have annoyed al Qaida by making a hero of a man Islamic militants had beheaded in Pakistan in 2002.

Pune police denied any inside knowledge. But the police, kept out of Brangelina’s security detail, have been pleading ignorance about everything that has to do with the duo’s safety.

“We have learnt about the threat to Jolie and Pitt and the news that they have been provided Y-category security, but we haven’t received any communication in this regard from our headquarters in Mumbai,” a senior police officer said.

A source from the sets, though, laughed it all off. “Pitt and Jolie are always with their three bodyguards. There have been no additional security personnel on the Sindh Society premises. The Tops (security agency) guys are here; other than them there are no foreign security guards,” he said.

The source added that the people of Sindh Society, where the film unit has rented three bungalows, are tiring of the near-curfew they have been put under.

“It’s very difficult to live like this. Vehicular movement is restricted, the three bungalows are cordoned off. The residents are happy that the shoot is in its final leg.”

The source said shooting would end on November 9 and the film crew have begun packing their gear. Jolie and Pitt are expected to move to Mumbai and continue shooting for another two weeks.

Jolie is playing Mariane, Pearl’s widow, in the film co-produced by Pitt and directed by Michael Winterbottom.