Jaipur, Jan. 27: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali was assaulted today allegedly by activists of a Rajput group who stormed the set of his film, Padmavati, at the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur and smashed equipment.

Padmavati stars Deepika Padukone in the title role of the Rajput queen of Chittorgarh, Ranveer Singh as Allauddin Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate and Shahid Kapur as Rani Padmavati's husband, Rana Ratan Singh.

Witnesses said activists of the Karni Sena Rajputs stormed the set, slapped Bhansali and pulled his hair in protest against what they said were intimate scenes being filmed between Ranveer and Deepika. The protesters demanded to know how such scenes could be filmed between Khilji and Padmavati, and argued that history had no such references.

Sources said Bhansali decided to cancel the rest of the shooting in Rajasthan - he was to film at some other forts in the state - but no police complaint was filed by the director or any of his crew till late this evening.

"There was a protest and the issue was settled after both parties held talks," the deputy commissioner of police (Jaipur North), Anshuman Bhomia, said. He added that five persons had been detained on charges of "disturbing peace".

Karni Sena district president Narayan Singh claimed outsiders had attacked Bhansali, not members of his group.

But he added: "We had warned the filmmakers against presenting wrong facts. When we came to know about the shooting, we gathered there and protested. Besides the Karni Sena activists, there were several other people who had gone there to watch the shooting. Someone from the mob slapped him and pulled his hair."

Singh accused Bhansali of trying to present "distorted facts" about Padmavati and warned this would not be tolerated. "We want that no distorted fact should be shown in the film and have asked the filmmaker to take care of it. The Rajput community will strongly oppose any move to present wrong facts about Rani Padmavati," Singh said.

Bhansali had not commented on the incident till this evening.

However, several of his industry colleagues spoke out against the assault.

Filmmaker Karan Johar tweeted: "Am appalled at what has happened with Sanjay Bhansali....this is the time for all us as an industry to stand by our people and fraternity!!"

Actor Sonam Kapoor said: "What happened on Padmavati sets is appalling and heinous. Is this the state of the world."

Southern star Arvind Swami wrote: "If crime is not countered with punishment, the balance will tilt towards lawlessness. Law and order is needed to protect freedom #Urgent."

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma posted on Twitter: "Bhansali is an artiste and if any country cannot protect its artistes from street hooligans it doesn't deserve to be called a country."

Earlier, Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa-Akbar, starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, had run into protests from Rajputs over alleged distortion of history.

Karni Sena leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi said Padmavati had committed jauhar - mass self-immolation by women to avoid capture and enslavement by invaders when facing certain defeat during war - with several other women to save themselves from Khilji's army. But in the Bhansali movie, she was being depicted as a lover of Khilji, Kalvi claimed.

"We will not sit quiet and will raise our voice against such objectionable projections," Kalvi said.