Jolie-Pitt entourage leaves West Indian city of Pune abuzz

It was a Jolie good ride. Hollywood's sexiest couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, in Pune in India to shoot a film based on slain journo Daniel Pearl, took their adopted four-year-old Maddox on a rickshaw ride on Sunday.Not surprisingly, the media were out in full force, with photographers trying to capture every second of the 20-minute ride. Followed by security guards, the couple began at Hotel Le Meridien, and proceeded to Jehangir Hospital chowk, taking the Alankar talkies and Sadhu Vaswani chowk route, passed a multiplex called Inox and Wadia College chowk, before making their tracks back to the hotel. Their two other children, 2-year-old Zahara and newborn Shiloh Nouvel, have also accompanied them on the trip. In spite of their bodyguards' efforts to keep camera lenses away from couple, several photos of Brangelina were snapped up. Pitt and Jolie's bodyguards have time and again come under fire for treating the paparazzi a little too roughly. On Saturday, one of their bodyguards was caught on camera with his hand around a British photographer's neck. The footage was beamed across Indian channels. “He said if I took his pictures he would kill me. I couldn't breathe. He had his fingers on my windpipe and he knew what he was doing,” the photographer said of his ordeal. Two Indian scribes also said they had been threatened.The 32-year-old Lara Croft actress and her 44-year-old Troy beau are in India to shoot The Mighty Heart, a film based on Pearl's widow Mariane's book on the journalist who was murdered by Islamic militants. Jolie is playing Mariane in the film, which is being produced by Pitt and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film was originally meant to be shot in Pakistan, the scene of the journalist's abduction and subsequent murder in 2002, but due to security concerns, the couple opted for India.“I am disappointed that we could not shoot the film in Pakistan, a country that I love and have visited three times. I had hoped to make this film in Pakistan, but after discussions with Pakistani officials it became clear that they would be more comfortable for us to film in India,” a statement released by the couple said.Jolie, however, said she was overwhelmed with the warm welcome extended to her and her family by Pune locals. “We deeply appreciate the warm welcome we have received from the people of Pune, India, where we are filming A Mighty Heart. We are excited to have this chance for our children to learn about India's wonderful culture and history,” she said.A A Mighty Heart also stars Dan Futterman, who would play Daniel Pearl. The film is scheduled for release in 2007.