Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Guarded

Mumbai, Oct. 5: Angelina Jolie is a security threat to men and police can do little about that. But Pune police are peeved she hasn’t sought their protection from threats of a more serious nature.

Jolie and Brad Pitt, Hollywood’s hottest couple, arrived in Pune around 3 this afternoon with their three kids, nannies in tow.

“They arrived in Mumbai earlier in the day and straight away flew to Pune in industrialist Gautam Singhania’s personal plane,” confirmed a source at Kailashnath Picture Company, the Indian line-producer for the film.

Jolie, arguably the world’s sexiest woman, is here to shoot for A Mighty Heart. The Hollywood film is based on the life of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and beheaded by militants in Pakistan while chasing a story four years ago.

But the film’s association with terrorism doesn’t end there.

There have been intelligence inputs about a possible terror strike in Pune, where the star couple will be staying for some time. And in any case, the presence of such global celebs anywhere in a star-crazed country could raise a security nightmare.

Jolie and Pitt, though, seem to have more faith in their private security than in Indian police.

Deputy commissioner Raghunath Khaire of Pune police’s special branch, who also looks after VIP security, was annoyed that no requests had been made to local police for the actor couple’s safety.

“We normally receive requests well in advance and make arrangements three days ahead of schedule. But nobody has contacted us yet. Given the current security situation — and Pune being on the terrorists’ radar — we are concerned,” he said in an aggrieved tone.

“This is a very sensitive matter. The police should have been informed. I hope they are not banking on their private security alone. In case of any untoward incident, it’s we who’ll have to take the blame.”

The security — private or police — are in for a tough time as the couple could shift base during their stay.

From the Pune airport, Jolie and Pitt went straight to Le Meridien hotel where five suites have been booked for them, the Kailashnath Picture Company source said.

“But they are not happy to stay in a hotel with their kids and are looking for a more spacious place where the children can move around freely. Some other places have been kept ready, including a few palatial bungalows around Pune and Aundh,” the source added.

“There is also a farmhouse-cum-bungalow on the Gujarat border in which they have expressed interest.”

KPC has set up base at a local barrister’s bungalow in Aundh on the outskirts of Pune.

“The place in Gujarat is just a 40-minute chopper ride from there,” the source said.

Nainsukh Bungalow at Aundh’s Sindh Society, where the production unit will begin their initial shooting, will remain the base for the next three or four days.

“The actual shoots are slated to begin by October 10, but there will be a few trial shots before that,” said Moses, a Mumbai-based production hand who is part of a 26-member freelance Bollywood crew.

While Jolie will play the role of Pearl’s wife Mariane, on whose book the film is based, Dan Futtermann will play the slain journalist. Michael Winterboom is the director and Pitt a part-producer.