Hollywood star Angelina Jolie's bodyguards got into a scuffle with the parents of a local Mumbai school, even as shooting for her film, A Mighty Heart, got disrupted.
Trouble erupted when the actress reached Anjuman-E-Islam school on Thursday noon for the film shoot, which clashed with the time school students were about to leave for home.
At first, parents were amused to see Angelina shooting in the school premises. Then, it gave way to chaos.
"There was chaos and confusion," Shainaz Khan, a parent, said. "The school premises was restricted to us and we could not find our children. Angelina's bodyguard abused many of us, including women, and some of them also passed racist comments like 'You bloody Indian.' It was humiliating."
The film unit had apparently set up a Pakistani police station inside the school premises.
The general secretary of Parent and Teacher Association Mohammad Yusuf Patni said that the children were shocked to see people dressed as Pakistani policemen in the school."The actors were holding guns and children were scared to see them," Patni said. "They had converted one room into a police station. The school authorities did not even inform us about the shoot. The bodyguards did not show any mercy towards women, and pushed them too. How could the management give permission to shoot when the children were in school? People were abused by Angelina's bodyguards. It was quite shameful."
When rediff.com contacted President of Anjuman-I-Islam, Sami Khatib, he downplayed the issue by stating that it was a minor one. "Everything is over now. There is no big issue," Khatib stated, adding, "We had taken all the necessary permission for the shoot."
Angelina is expected to leave for Pune by the weekend, to complete her shooting there. A Mighty Heart is based on the life of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed by terrorists in 2002.
Meanwhile, Dallington TV House, which is producing the film, has issued a statement that the paparazzi rushed in when the school gates were open, and created chaos and confusion. They also said that the bodyguards were not responsible for the event.
The film shoot is expected to resume tomorrow.
Text: Syed Firdaus Ashraf | Photograph: Arun Patil
