Film producer Abis Rizvi killed in Istanbul attack, Bollywood offers condolences

Among the 39 deceased in the Istanbul terror attack, two were Indian nationals. One among them was Abis Rizvi, who was a real estate developer and a Hindi film producer. He was the son of ex-Rajya Sabha MP, Akhtar Hasan Rizvi. 

The attack happened at a night club in Istanbul in Turkey on New Year’s eve. While the New Year celebrations were going on at around 1.15 am, two gunmen in Santa Claus attire entered the club and started firing randomly. There were reportedly around 700 people present at the club. Out of these 39 were killed. 

Rizvi had produced the 2014 movie, Roar: Tigers Of The Sundarbans. It was directed by actor-turned-director, Kamal Sadanah and it revolved around a dreaded man-eating tiger. His next film T For Taj Mahal is currently on floors. It features Subrat Dutta, Pitobash (of Shor In The City fame) and Ali Faulkner, a Hollywood actress who has also played a part in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011). 

The news of his demise was shared by Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs on Twitter. Her first tweet read, “I have a bad news from Turkey. We have lost two Indian nationals in the Istanbul attack. Indian Ambassador is on way to Istanbul.” She later also said that she has arranged for the visas of the family members of the two deceased Indians.

A number of Hindi film personalities have offered condolences to Rizvi. Actors Govinda, Pooja Bhatt, Nora Fatehi, a cast member of Roar, Randeep Hooda, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who was his close friend and Resul Pookutty, who is the sound designer for T For Taj Mahal, wrote condolence messages for him on Twitter.

Life is too short to be taken for granted. R.I.P #AbisRizvi . #istanbulattack

— Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) January 2, 2017

Shocking .. Life is too short, we take too much for granted.. #RIP #AbisRizvi .. Good man.. My condolences to the family 🙏 #istambulattack

— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) January 1, 2017

A genuinely good man with a big heart always there when you need him ill never forget you #abisrizvi R.I.P! May god punish those bastards😢

— Nora Fatehi (@Norafatehi) January 1, 2017

Devastated to hear that our friend #AbisRizvi was shot dead in the Istanbul nightclub attack. My heart goes out to his family. RIP 🙏🙏💔

— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) January 1, 2017

Devastated by the death of my friend #AbisRizvi in the dastardly terrorist attack this morning in an #Istanbul nightclub.

— Jaaved Jaaferi (@jaavedjaaferi) January 1, 2017

Shocked by the news of losing one of my long time & dearest friend, Abis Rizvi, in the shootout in Istanbul. Will miss you my friend. RIP pic.twitter.com/KFhHjx6Xci

— Madhur Bhandarkar (@imbhandarkar) January 1, 2017