The ongoing quest to keep Angelina Jolie safe seems to keep putting others in danger.
A shoot for the upcoming film A Mighty Heart turned into a mighty mess Thursday, after the actress' bodyguards allegedly roughed up parents and students at a Mumbai, India, school.
Jolie, who portrays Mariane Pearl, widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, was filming at the Anjuman-e-Islam Islamic seminary. Problems reportedly began when the gates to the school, which had been locked for the shoot, were opened so parents could pick up their children.
"The guards of the stars threatened the parents that they should not come in," one angry father told Reuters.
"He pushed a small student and abused us as 'bloody Indians,' " another father said, pointing at one of Jolie's bodyguards, per Reuters.
A third witness said that a guard "misbehaved with a woman."
Dallington TV, the British production company that organized the shoot, blamed the incident on (who else?) the paparazzi.
"We had the full permission and cooperation of the school to film on the premises," Dallington said in a statement. "When the gates were opened to allow the parents in to collect their children, the paparazzi rushed the school, causing confusion."
According to India's Daily News & Analysis, enraged parents filed a complaint with police against the school's management and against an unnamed bodyguard, whom they accused of attacking and verbally abusing people during the encounter. Police were reportedly reluctant to accept the complaint, but eventually relented.
Since Jolie arrived in India last month, along with Brad Pitt and their three children, the aggressive tactics used by her bodyguards have been well documented.
In one instance, a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press said he was punched and threatened with a gun by guards protecting the film's set in Pune, India. In another, a guard was caught on tape grasping a photographer by the throat and shoving him.
Earlier this week, when Jolie and her costar Dan Futterman filmed scenes on a crowded commuter train in Mumbai, a photographer who was in the same compartment as the actress told the BBC that her bodyguards threatened to throw him from the train if he came too close.
In an interview with the Times of India, Jolie said that the role of Mariane Pearl has been "challenging," though not because of her bodyguards' repeated skirmishes with bystanders.
"Playing her role is certainly challenging for me, as I have to make the world understand this woman and her family," Jolie said.
"We need to tell the story of Daniel Pearl, and the reason we are making this film is because it's very important to have a dialogue between the two cultures," she said.
The film is based on Mariane Pearl's book A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl. Daniel Pearl was murdered in Pakistan in 2002 while investigating Islamic militants in the wake of the 9-11 attacks.