Abhay Deol's One By Two to release on Facebook, but not for India

While Facebook is known for plenty of things, films have only resorted to the promotions on the network so far. But Bollywood has got the drop on Hollywood in this regard. Noted actor Abhay Deol will release his first film as producer on Facebook. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the makers of the film One By Two have bagged a deal to release the film for international audiences on Facebook.   Unfortunately, this first-of-its-kind release for an Indian movie will not have an online audience in India, as Facebook will turn off support for users in India. The report says that the Facebook tie-up comes as the movie won’t get a wide international release. Rudrarup Dutta of co-producers Viacom 18 told the paper, “Facebook will block all the IP addresses from India (geo-blocking) trying to access the file. It will be available in countries where there is no theatrical release of the film.”   Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, was quoted as saying “Cinema consumers outside India can enjoy the film on its release day. This is also a bold step to counter piracy by giving the discerning consumer a clear legal choice.” While the financial details of the deal haven’t been disclosed, presumably the Facebook release is more cost effective and could add an X factor to the movie, that might have gone unnoticed otherwise. One By Two could very well spark off a trend of Facebook premieres, but it all depends on how this first ever Facebook release fares.