ULLU has wisdom and forward looking plans

Vibhu Agarwal

A shining example of the most successful startup under Aatmabirbhar Bharat is the home-grown App ULLU, an on-demand streaming platform that is founded, owned and maintained by Vibhu Agarwal.

While its web series are primarily skewed towards audiences of tier 2 and 3 cities, ULLU has been targeted for promoting erotica in its shows. Critics and adversaries have labelled it as 'an app known for its bold and edgy content' and some have even gone as far to say that 'the app promotes erotica in its shows.'

CEO of the ULLU App, Vibhu Agarwal instantly defends, "Then what about the several recent web series on other Apps that blatantly portray suggestive erotica enacted by acclaimed Bollywood stars? And what about profanity and unlimited cuss words abundantly flowing out from even well-known actresses? They have crossed the limits of even visual depiction at times with a bit of nudity too."

"Just imagine, this is coming from these established actors and actress who are role models for millions of our youngsters and some of these celebs even endorse several products. Why isn't there any hue and cry about these most popular web series? Is it because they are promoted by International apps that are backed by reputed and big corporates?"

Vibhu Agarwal is basically from the steel industry without any background in the film industry and that makes it easier for others to instantly point fingers about merits and demerits of their content. "If an international giant comes up with sensuous or erotic content, it is lauded, whereas if it is a relatively new entrant then controversies are created," he explained stating he has been in the industry since 2011 when he produced a feature film 'Baat Ban Gayi' featuring Ali Fasal and Gulshan Grover that was shot in India and Singapore which he honestly accepts, "Though it was released in 472 theatres across India, it was a super flop which made him realize his position that was similar to Abhimanyu jo chakra mein ghus gaya tha, lekin bahar nikalna nahin jaanta tha. "I paid hefty price to achieve industry's Gyan and hence I am back here", he says "After returning to my hometown, in around 2015/16 I wondered there would be many like me thinking of entering the film industry but faced problems like booking theatres to release their films. Then it struck me - why not create a platform for such new filmmakers who have put in all their resources to produce the film but find it difficult to release it? Post the introduction of 4G services in India that saw the emergence of the OTT platforms in India, and after extensive research I planned to launch our own app ULLU," Vibhu Agarwal speaks about inception of his app.

Agarwal is upgrading the ULLU App on its 2.0 version which is already launched in its Beta testing and will be publicly launched in a couple of weeks. The most important feature of this upgraded version will be that a viewer can watch any particular movie in its censored version or uncensored version.

They have set up an internal team for censorship that would cut out abusive language, gory violence, bold scenes and those showing consumption of alcohol or smoking, though it may cut off the length of that film or even a web series.

"At the moment there is an absence of regulation for censorship from the authorities we have initiated this aspect on our own by naming this feature as 'FAMILY SAFE'. This will change the common perception of people that ULLU isn't just an adult viewing platform. We have even changed the look and feel with ready to release contents back to back which will allow families to watch clean content once the 'FAMILY SAFE'option is chosen. Those wishing to see the uncensored version too can watch that using the other option," he said.

When in conversation with Vibhu Agarwal he answered:

What are other features of the ULLU 2.0 app?

While 'FAMILY SAFE' was the main feature, other options is the A VOD mode of watching the film or web series for that segment of the market where they are used to watching free content online or those willing to pay a nominal amount. Somewhat similar to watching the content on YouTube where the ads are displayed prior to or during the movie. In this model ULLU generates revenue through ads while the viewers get to watch the content for as good as free of cost. This targets that market segment that is used to watching YouTube content.

What is the logic behind charging a 'very nominal amount' while you may as well keep it totally free?

One cannot ascertain if the viewer is under or above 18 while watching the uncensored version. Now, for remitting that nominal fee be it even Rs. 5, the person has to make payment which he/she would remit online through the Bank that allows only people over 18 years of age to pay through Debit Cards, Credit Card or UPI.

Coming to the second part of your question, the consumer would not exactly reaqlize the value of that content when it is totally free, that is the usual psychological human mindset.

Would like to clarify your stand on the controversy regarding the adult content on ULLU app?

When we launched the app we had the target audience of 2-3 and 4 tier cities in India since we created that urban type of content with a bit of intimate scenes and sequences. This fetched tremendous response for adult content while simultaneously catering to clean content and longer web series International trends around 2 years ago saw the bombardment of several OTT platforms and while checking the popular content in other OTT platforms in India, our analysis revealed that web series or films having abusive language and intimate scenes evoked huge buzz amongst people. Hence we focused on such content based stories which could be blended with creative liberties to again gain wider acceptance.

Even the OTT biggies have such content which is widely accepted not only within India but outside as well. So people like to watch urban stories and we offered them what they want.

How would you summarize ULLU's course in the year gone by?

In the last 6 months after the lockdown we have come up with several films and series featuring known celebrities under the 'Censored' version category. We have created a new structure that focusses on other categories like total clean stories with known actors, yet our viewers insisted that we should continue and not digress from genera that made our app so popular.

Looking forward, what is the vision at ULLU?

We will be coming up with a dedicated portal called ULLU Merchandise that will be launched early April related to fashion, undergarments, nightwear and exclusive accessories, all in a phased out manner. Undergarments will be followed by nightwear and after that the fashion category that will offer ladies suits and casuals like trousers, jeans, shirts, T-shirts. Finally the ULLU brand will offer accessories like watches, glasses, hairbands and shoes. This venture should be up in a year along with our e-portal offering e-commerce where other manufacturers can market their products under their own brands through our app. This e-commerce portal would be similar to other such portals in the market.

We have tapped just a fraction of the digital industry's potential that offers huge scope in the years to come. Digital mediums is the new mantra looking forward. We plan to launch ULLU app outside India with continent wise focus. Utilizing our existing vast subscription base we can distribute films produced locally in their local language as well as the local content and of that geographical region say confined to UK and USA.

Under the same ULLU brand name we are also planning to become a service provider for a revolution in Digital Telecommunication that is expected to be launched later this year where one can call up and speak to anyone anywhere in the world without downloading any app at a very low cost of Rs 99 per annum.

--PARESH B. MEHTA