There are too many full stops in India, as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt discovered when they came down to shoot for Michael Winterbottom’s film, A Mighty Heart, based on the death of American journalist, Daniel Pearl. From the time of their arrival in the country, the couple — christened by the media as Brangelina — left a trail of controversies. These would not be forgotten in a hurry.

n Brangelina flew from Mumbai to Pune (where the shooting was supposed to take place) in a private plane, provided by the industrialist, Gautam Singhania. They reached Pune, at around three in the afternoon, with their three children and a fleet of nannies.

n The twist in the tale came shortly thereafter. Instead of asking for security from the police, they preferred to have their own men around for protection. It was around this time that intelligence reports about a possible terror strike in Pune had reached the police. However, Pitt and Jolie seemed to have little cause to worry, although they gave Indians enough reasons to lose sleep.

n The Pitt-Jolie clan then checked into Le Meridien hotel, where five suites had been booked for them. But they were unhappy with the five-star arrangements and preferred a separate bungalow for themselves so that their children could run around freely.

n The security frenzy did not die down so easily. Soon, the couple’s “own men” were parading in the corridors of the Le Meridien. While the celebrity family occupied suites 519 to 526 of the hotel, the entire fifth floor was sealed off from the rest of the guests.

n There were no instructions, however, given to the chef regarding the food that would be served to the esteemed guests. While Jolie and Pitt were eagerly declaring their enjoyment of the “sights and sounds” of India, they were not quite ready to tolerate the smell of Indians so easily. Between shooting for long hours every day, they were eating their meals at one of the three bungalows rented for the shooting in Pune. Their fellow diners, who joined them at High Table, were the foreign crew of the film. The Indians ate downstairs. Clearly, the visual and olfactory delights of India, for the couple, stopped at the dining table.

n The climax came at the Anjuman-E-Islam school where Jolie’s security guards clashed with parents who had come to fetch their children at the end of the day. It appeared that these parents were given no idea about the day’s special activities inside the premises, until the guards started barking at them. “You bloody Indians! Who are you?” one of them had allegedly shouted, gesturing with his hand that these Indians’ throats will be slit if they didn’t behaved themselves. We don’t know what the fate of these people would have been had they not listened to the bodyguards. After all, one of these security men had manhandled a British “paparazzi” shortly before this incident.

n Jolie and Pitt left the country with the ominous words of a Mumbai astrologer, Anand Soni, ringing in their ears: Pitt would go back to Jennifer Aniston and “his marital life may not be blissful at all”. And, while Jolie’s career would grow rapidly till October 2007, her husband’s will be successful till 2008.

It appears that their time is running out rather fast!