Viacom18 Motion Pictures – the co-producers of Padmavati – on Sunday said they had decided to “voluntarily defer” the film’s release. The movie was scheduled to hit the screens on December 1. There is no word yet on when Padmavati will be released.

“We always have and are committed to continue following established procedure and convention,” the production house said. “We have faith that we’ll soon obtain requisite clearances to release the film. We’ll announce revised release date of the film in due course.”

This comes a day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje wrote to Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, urging her to ensure that the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film is not released without the changes that various groups have demanded. She had suggested setting up a committee of historians, film personalities and the “aggrieved party” to discuss Padmavati and its plot and suggest changes.

Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has been in the midst of a controversy since January when members of the Rajput Karni Sena assaulted Bhansali on the set of the movie in Jaipur. The shoot was then shifted to Maharashtra. The Karni Sena is against a supposed romantic scene between Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji, which Bhansali had said was not in the film.

Padmavati is based on the epic poem Padmavat. It is based on the legend that Alauddin Khijli (Ranveer Singh) invades Chittor on orders to conquer the kingdom and the queen, Padmini (Deepika Padukone).