Pitt defends bodyguards after racist abuse row

NEW DELHI- Hollywood actor Brad Pitt denied allegations three bodyguards racially insulted parents and children at an Indian Islamic school during shooting of a film starring his partner Angelina Jolie, reports said on Saturday.

Police received a complaint on Thursday that the British security guards had manhandled students and parents, and called them "bloody Indians" as they tried to enter the school, or madrasa, in Mumbai to collect their children.

"As a film unit and as individuals we respect all religions and human beings," Pitt, also the producer of the film, was quoted by the Times of India as saying.

"We are committed to tolerance and human values ... It is unthinkable that anyone would have uttered the things that are being attributed to them. But if any misunderstanding has been caused, we apologize for it," he added.

Pitt and Jolie along with their children have been in India for almost a month, shooting "A Mighty Heart" based on the life and death of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist kidnapped and murdered in 2002 in Pakistan by Islamist militants.

Indian police had detained three of Jolie's guards on Friday but they were later released on bail of 25,000 rupees ($556), the Times of India said.