Union Minister Uma Bharti on Friday suggested that the makers of the film Padmavati engage with those opposing the movie to end the controversy surrounding it.

“Why not form a committee with historians, the filmmaker, the protestors and the censor board and decide on it,” she tweeted. Bharti said that instead of looking at the film in connection with the Rajput society, Padmavati should be associated with the honour of an Indian woman.

“I stand firm. No non-sense with Indian woman’s pride – past, present or future,” she added.

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Padmavati, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, is slated for release on December 1. It is based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem Padmavat.

On Friday, members of Rajput Karni Sena led a demonstration in Chittorgarh in Rajasthan demanding that the film should not be released, reported IANS. “We want Bhansali’s team [to] screen the movie for historians and intellectuals before releasing it as we are afraid and concerned that historical facts have been distorted in the movie,” Vishavbandhu Rathore, a member of the Rajput Karni Sena was quoted as saying. Rathore added that they are not really against the film.

Members of the Rajput group have objected to Padmavati since shooting began and threatened to delay its release, claiming that the movie distorted history. In January, Bhansali was assaulted on the set of Padmavati in Jaipur in Rajasthan, after which the shoot was shifted to Maharashtra. The movie’s set in Kolhapur was set on fire in March.

On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrote to the Election Commission demanding a stay on the release of the film ahead of the Gujarat elections. BJP Vice-President IK Jadeja alleged that the film “distorts history”, and said he had received representations against the Padmavati from the Kshatriya community in around 17 districts of Gujarat.