Ajaz Khan's 'House Arrest' removed from Ullu App after MPs, MLAs call out reality show for obscenity

Actor Ajaz Khan's reality show House Arrest has been pulled down from streaming platform Ullu after the snowballing controversy over its sexually explicit content.

A search for the show House Arrest on the Ullu App, often described as an adult platform, yielded no results on Friday.

This comes after a short video clip from the show sparked outrage online. Khan in the clip is seen putting pressure on women contestants to perform intimate and inappropriate acts on camera. The conversation appears to make some of the participants uncomfortable with its probing, personal questions bordering on the vulgar.

Sharing the video on X, Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote: "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."

In another post she shared the list of 18 OTT platforms that were blocked by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on March 14, 2024.

"Surprisingly 2 of the biggest apps were kept out- Ullu and Alt Balaji, will I&B tell the country why were they left out from this ban?

Chaturvedi's reaction came just days after the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking a ban on streaming of sexually explicit content on OTT and social media platforms.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said it was either for the legislature or the executive to come out with measures to deal with the issue.

"This is not within our domain. As it is, there is lot of allegation that we are encroaching upon the legislative and executive powers," Justice Gavai said in an apparent reference to recent attacks on the judiciary.

BJP's Nishikant Dubey also took to X and declared that an action will be taken in the matter.

"This will not work, our committee will take action on this," he wrote tagging the I&B ministry. Alleging that its content is obscene and harmful to society, especially to children, she urged Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw to take strict action against mobile applications that promote such content.

Similarly, Maharashtra BJP MLC Chitra Wagh on Thursday demanded an immediate ban on actor Ajaz Khan's web show.

"Ajaz Khan, who calls himself an actor, has created a show called 'House Arrest', which is nothing but the epitome of obscenity. Clips from this show, streamed on the Ullu app, are now circulating freely on social media, and they are extremely vulgar," she noted.

Wagh expressed concern over the growing availability of such material under the guise of creative freedom. "In the name of freedom of expression, we must stop giving a free hand to obscenity. 'House Arrest' is not merely content it is an assault on the values of society," the legislator opined.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday summoned Ullu App 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.

The duo have been asked to appear before it on May 9.

House Arrest, which started streaming on Ullu App from April 11, has been described as an uncensored version of captive reality series like Bigg Boss and Lock Upp.

This comes at a time when vigilance over content has increased in India ever since podcaster Ranveer Allahabadia made offensive remarks at Samay Raina's show India's Got Latent.

(With PTI inputs)