Director Deepa Mehta has revealed that after weeks battling with protestors on the set of her film Water, she has decided to shift location from the Indian city of Varanasi.

"There is a good chance that the sets of Water will now float into the state of Madhya Pradesh, where chief minister Digvijay Singh has guaranteed us security," Deepa Mehta said.

Mehta last week agreed to tone down the script of her film and remove five lines said to be offensive to the groups leading the agitation. However protests had continued with one man attempting suicide on the set over the weekend.

India's Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley had guaranteed the film safe passage in Varanasi but the Uttar Pradesh government had made it clear the film was not welcome. The film's producers, Canadian company Flagship International, have already spent more than $ 0.5 million on the production.