AIB Roast video pulled out from YouTube

The controversial AIB Roast video has been taken down from video sharing website YouTube two days after the Maharashtra government initiated a probe into allegations of "abusive and filthy" language used by Bollywood personalities in it.

The video, which went viral on the online video sharing platform since being posted Jan 28, was pulled out Tuesday night.

The official Twitter handle of the comic group AIB posted: "Have taken down AIB Knockout for now. We will speak soon."

The Roast, organised by a group of stand-up comedians called All India Bakchod (AIB), poked fun at the roastees -- Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, and was hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar.

Following complaints on the below-the-belt content of the programme, Education and Culture Minister Vinod Tawade ordered a probe Monday evening.

"The Culture Department officials will examine the videos' content and if found vulgar, action would be initiated," Tawade said.

Also, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Tuesday demanded an apology from all the persons involved in the AIB Roast, and said that it would not allow Johar, Arjun and Ranveer's movies to be screened if they do not apologise.

AIB Roast is a charity event which took place here in December 2014. A collection of over Rs.4 million was raised via the two-hour comic event, the edited version of which was posted on AIB's YouTube page Jan 28.

The negative reactions to the AIB Roast's humour has left a majority of Hindi film celebrities upset, and they have taken to Twitter to laugh off the matter.

Actress Sandhya Mridul wrote: "Chalo #AIBRoast off You tube. Sab khush? Now let's start scrutinising and punishing all those who use bad words. EVERYONE. ANYWHERE. ANYTIME."

Screenwriter Milap Zaveri supported the comic group, and posted: "Corruption, poverty, illiteracy, there r enough serious issues to tackle. Why target laughter? #AIBRoast n @AllIndiaBakchod we stand by you."

Another actress, Shruti Seth questioned "if the organisers of #AIBRoast flouted any rules, how were they allowed to perform."

"So the authorities were complicit in this 'vulgar' act? Don't let the moral police win. Next they'll come after our thoughts. #AIBRoast must be allowed back on YouTube (sic)," Shruti shared with her fans on the micro-blogging website.

Writer Chetan Bhagat argued if the event can be probed for abusive language, then the government "will also need to probe every college hostel in this country".

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who did not find the programme amusing, still supported the group's freedom of speech, and tweeted: "Watched AIB knockout and did not find it funny. So what? It is their prerogative to poke fun at each other and to put it on public domain."

The AIB Roast also saw leading female Bollywood actors like Sonakshi Sinha, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt in the audience.