Actor Ajaz Khan’s reality show "House Arrest" has been pulled down from streaming platform Ullu after a snowballing controversy over its sexually explicit content.
A search for the show "House Arrest" on the Ullu app, known primarily for its adult content, yielded no results on Friday. "Your search for ’House Arrest’ did not find any matches", states the message that comes up on the site. This comes after a short video clip from the show sparked outrage and drew strong reactions from political leaders and others on social media. Khan is seen putting pressure on women contestants to perform intimate acts on camera in the clip.
The conversation also appears to make some of the participants uncomfortable with probing, personal questions bordering on the vulgar. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has summoned Ullu CEO Vibhu Agarwal and Khan, a former Bigg Boss contestant, after taking suo motu cognisance of the controversy and expressed strong condemnation over its content. "Viral clips show women being coerced into intimate acts on camera. NCW slams the platform for promoting vulgarity & violating consent," it said in a post on X.
Agarwal and Khan, who has been seen in peripheral roles in a few films, including Raktcharitra, and some TV shows, have been asked to appear before it on May 9. Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi shared a clip from the show on her X handle on Thursday and asked why content apps producing such 'obscene content' are not banned.
"I have raised this in the standing committee that apps such as this, namely, Ullu App and Alt Balaji have managed to escape the ban by I&B ministry on apps for obscene content. I am still awaiting their reply," she wrote. Chaturvedi shared another post with the names of the applications that were banned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in March 2024.”On March 14, 2024, the I&B Ministry had blocked 18 OTT platforms, which were found to be streaming obscene and pornographic content. The apps blocked by the government were primarily platforms distributing explicit material.
The following 18 apps were banned. Surprisingly 2 of the biggest apps were kept out- Ullu and Alt Balaji, will I&B tell the country why they were left out from this ban,” she wrote. Maharashtra BJP MLC Chitra Wagh also demanded that the show be immediately banned. "Stop giving a free rein to obscenity in the name of freedom of expression. Immediately ban Ajaz Khan’s House Arrest. It has crossed all limits of obscenity," she said on X.
"Such content is now easily accessible on mobile phones of children. These kinds of programmes not only insult our culture, but also degrade the moral health of society. This is a perverse attack on the minds of the next generation," Chaturvedi's post continued.
House Arrest, which started streaming on Ullu from April 11, has been described as an uncensored version of captive reality series like Bigg Boss and Lock Upp. It centres around 12 contestants, nine women and three men, confined together in a luxurious villa where they are asked to perform various tasks and challenges.
Gehna Vashisht, one of the participants, said she has been receiving many messages that the show should be banned. "You people watch porn. Isn’t that spreading vulgarity. Why no action against them," she said in a video on social media. "I’m comfortable, all the contestants are comfortable and are above 18 and are doing the show willingly… nobody forced them…. You people are such hypocrites that you look for education in an entertaining show and entertainment in an education programme… Don’t divert people from important topics,” she added in the message that quickly went viral.
Also read: NCW summons Ullu app CEO, actor Ajaz Khan over coercive, obscene content in web show
Many users on social media also called out Khan and the app for promoting vulgarity in the name of content. "Ajaz Khan & Ullu app are both repeat offenders. Why is there no censorship on such vulgar OTT shows? Thought porn sites were banned in India," one user said on X. "Isn’t this vulgarity? #Latent got banned as it was a dark comedy show. Ooh, the vulgar shows cannot be banned, right? Ajaz Khan is openly promoting this on his new show," wrote another user.
"This show is not only disgusting but beyond the definition of vulgar. The host Ajaz Khan is crossing boundaries. It’s a cheapest copy of Bigg Boss. The reels of this show are viral. Please ban this show asap," wrote another social media user. Launched in 2018, Ullu app offers a variety of content including web-series, movies and reality programmes that focus on bold and adult narratives.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
