Mumbai: Film producer and businessman Abis Rizvi was one of the two Indians who were shot dead in a terrorist attack on Reina nightclub in the Besiktas neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey early on Sunday.
Abis was the son of former Rajya Sabha MP Akhtar Rizvi and had gone to Turkey to scout the location for a film, and he was at the nightclub with some local coordinators.
When DC contacted Abis’ family, relatives said they were in a state of “shock” and came to know about his demise after Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted about it on Sunday evening.
A cousin of Abis, who requested anonymity said, “We are in a state of shock and do not know what to say. Just four years ago, we lost Abis’ younger brother, Saquib, to cancer and now the news of his death has shaken all of us.”
He added, “The elders of the family will be meeting to decide on the course of action.” Abis was the director and CEO of the Rizvi group of companies, which has made a mark for itself in the real estate space and education sector. He had forayed into films and had also set up the company Abis Rizvi Films, which released the film Roar: The tigers of Sundarbans in 2014. The company had two other projects He-Man and T for Taj Mahal in the pipeline.
