ᴍᴀʜɴᴏᴏʀ ᴇᴜᴄᴇᴘʜ

The Abdur Rahman Chughtai Moving Portraits 🕯️🦜🔥🪷📖 where we brought to life the paintings of the legendary Pakistani artist. A collaboration with: Director: Mahnoor Euceph @euceph Production Designer: Hashim Ali @hashimali90 @hashimalidesignstudios Director of Photography: Naveed Amjad @naveed.amjad Producer: Kamil Chima @kamilchima Costume Designer: Ghulam-e-Fatima @fatimaraza_18 Makeup Artist: Sheraz Ashraf @sherazmakeupartist Hair Stylist: M. Ali Malik @ali.hairstylist_offical Gaffer: M. Sarfaraz Camera Assistant: M. Irfan Light Assistant: M. Zahid VFX Artist: Will Wharton @good_boy_william

Join us for the Muslim American Storytellers Film Series at UCLA on May 16, featuring screenings of the feature film “Mustache” as well as short films “$17.74” and “Eid Mubarak.” Featuring an in-person discussion with directors Imran J. Khan, Mahnoor Euceph, Justin Mashouf, and UCLA faculty. May 16 11:00 AM–3:45 PM Royce Hall 314, UCLA Free admission. Registration required. Join us for an afternoon of award winning films and conversations exploring identity, family, redemption, belonging, and the many dimensions of Muslim life on screen.

eid mubarak (to the tune of dhoom machale) at @aadilabedi and @hashrza ’s lovely annual Eid celebration with my sister @meuceph who is making a BABY🧎🏻‍♀️‍➡️🥲🤰🏻

Here is a clip of writer/director Mahnoor Euceph being interviewed by Carolyn McDonald (@createdbycarolyn ) about her teen girl film 11:11—in which a Pakistani girl makes a wish at 11:11 that goes wrong and turns her white—for the @nfmla Stage 5 Filmmaker Interview in partnership with @moviemakermag . Link in bio for the full interview🎙️

Mahnoor Euceph ( @euceph ) is an LA raised and based writer and director whose stylized feminine gaze blends Americana with stories about the Pakistani diaspora. The Pillars Artist Fellow is currently working on her feature film, 11:11. The film follows a 16-year-old Pakistani girl in Palos Verdes, California, who makes a wish which goes wrong and magically transforms her into a blonde, blue-eyed, white girl. “I’m exploring the tension between self-worth and social power — what it means to value yourself deeply, yet still crave belonging in a system designed to reward everything you’re not,” Mahnoor says. Mahnoor’s short film, EID MUBARAK, was longlisted for the 96th Academy Awards, and was also drawn from Mahnoor’s experiences growing up. “With this film, I got to showcase my great privilege in life, which was being raised with a love for who I am,” Mahnoor said. “I want to show women and girls of color in their entirety, as leading ladies, from our perspective.” 🔗 Watch the trailer for 11:11 through the link in our bio.

the beautiful, pretty, hot, angsty teen girl coming-of-age movie poster for 11:11 ☻ 𖦹 ❤︎ 𖤐 𖣯 ☯︎ ⋆.˚☾⭒.˚ design is by the coolest ever @jvff3ry original painting is by the loveliest ever @taliaceravolo and the sweetest ever @rugzndchugz helped me think this one out

Happy October! This month you can check out 11:11 at four incredible Oscar-qualifying festivals: ✨ @tasveerorg in Seattle 💫 @sjisff in San Jose, California ⭐️ @woodstockfilmfestival in upstate New York ⚡️ @hiffhawaii in Hawaii

Princess by Terrace This moving portrait is inspired by Abdur Rahman Chughtai’s painting Princess by Terrace, which portrays a princess engrossed in a book. Chughtai, deeply influenced by Islamic aesthetics and literary traditions—from Iqbal’s poetry to Urdu ghazals and classical romances—painted women who were idealized but never passive. They radiate agency, thought, and refinement. For me, recreating this image meant embodying not just its aesthetics but also its philosophy as a meditation on South Asian female subjectivity. Unlike colonial or orientalist depictions of South Asian women, Chughtai’s subject is not exoticized or objectified; she is self-contained, a keeper of culture and intellect, with her own inner life. Instead of being looked at, she is doing something, feeling something, or engaged in her own interior world. Chughtai helped shape the cultural soul of Pakistan. With this series, we seek to honor his legacy and uplift our heritage on the global stage. Our legends deserve to be remembered. Our art deserves to be recognized. May these moving portraits serve as reminders to be stewards of our own empowerment. Director: Mahnoor Euceph @euceph Production Designer: Hashim Ali @hashimali90 @hashimalidesignstudios Director of Photography: Naveed Amjad @naveed.amjad Producer: Kamil Chima @kamilchima Costume Designer: Ghulam-e-Fatima @fatimaraza_18 Makeup Artist: Sheraz Ashraf @sherazmakeupartist Hair Stylist: M. Ali Malik @ali.hairstylist_offical Gaffer: M. Sarfaraz Camera Assistant: M. Irfan Light Assistant: M. Zahid Music: Raqeeb Se by Noor Jehan Painting: Princess by Terrace by Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Radhika This moving portrait is inspired by Abdur Rahman Chughtai’s Radhika, which draws on Hindu devotional traditions. “Radha” literally means the one who is adored or worshiped, while “Radhika” is its affectionate, poetic variation. The lotus is a sacred symbol of purity, awakening, and transcendence in Indian and Islamic art. In Radha’s context, the pink lotus evokes selfless love for Krishna—love that rises above the world’s mud as the lotus rises above water. It may also be a metaphor for Radha herself, the eternal consort whose devotion is flawless. Here Radha is shown in shringara rasa—the aesthetic of love, longing, and beauty. It reflects the bhakti belief that separation deepens devotion, with the romantic relationship between lover and beloved serving as a metaphor for the relationship between the individual and the divine. Chughtai often reimagined Hindu mythological figures through an Indo-Islamic lens, celebrating shared heritage. His Radhika is both mythic archetype and symbol of feminine devotion, patience, and spiritual beauty. His genius lay in portraying sacred and secular women with equal reverence, creating a modern South Asian identity rooted in plurality and pride. By stepping into these portraits, I wanted to remind myself and others that we are not removed from our shared culture and history—we are its continuation. A collaboration with: Director: Mahnoor Euceph @euceph Production Designer: Hashim Ali @hashimali90 @hashimalidesignstudios Director of Photography: Naveed Amjad @naveed.amjad Producer: Kamil Chima @kamilchima Costume Designer: Ghulam-e-Fatima @fatimaraza_18 Makeup Artist: Sheraz Ashraf @sherazmakeupartist Hair Stylist: M. Ali Malik @ali.hairstylist_offical Gaffer: M. Sarfaraz Camera Assistant: M. Irfan Light Assistant: M. Zahid VFX Artist: Will Wharton @good_boy_william Music: Alap by Ravi Shankar Painting: Radhika by Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Hiraman Tota by A R Chughtai This moving portrait is inspired by Hiraman Tota, one of Abdur Rahman Chughtai’s most iconic works—depicting Padmavati, the queen of Chittor, and her friend, the talking parrot Hiraman, a traditional South Asian symbol of longing and connection between separated lovers. The story of Padmavati was told by 16th-century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in his Awadhi-language epic, written in Persian script. In the tale, the parrot Hiraman tells Ratansen, king of Chittor, of Padmavati and her beauty. Ratansen is so moved by the parrot’s words that he renounces his kingdom, becomes an ascetic, and follows Hiraman across seven seas to reach Padmavati—risking everything to win her. Chughtai, considered the father of modern Pakistani art, created a style that defined a new national identity after Partition—fusing the traditions of the Bengali School led by Abanindranath Tagore, Islamic Mughal miniature painting, Japanese watercolors, and Art Nouveau. His work elevated mythic queens, goddesses, and everyday women alike, venerating them equally. In this portrait, I step into that lineage as an ordinary woman—embodying the strength Chughtai saw in all women, to encourage us to see ourselves as dignified as queens in our own tradition. It is a reminder that history lives in our bodies, our faces, our presence. It is also a refusal—a refusal to let the West dictate what is beautiful, what is powerful, what is valuable, and what is remembered. A collaboration with: Director: Mahnoor Euceph @euceph Production Designer: @hashim90 @hashimalistudio Director of Photography: @naveed.amjad Producer: @kamilchima Costume Designer: Ghulam-e-Fatima @fatimaraza_18 Makeup Artist: Sheraz Ashraf @sherazmakeupartist Hair Stylist: M. Ali Malik @ali.hairstylist_offical Gaffer: M. Sarfaraz Camera Assistant: M. Irfan Light Assistant: M. Zahid Music: Bengali Folk Tune (in Dandra Tal, 6 beats) by Hariprasad Chaurasia Painting: Hiraman Tota by Abdur Rahman Chughtai

The Extinguished Flame This moving portrait is a recreation of Pakistani artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai’s painting, The Extinguished Flame. The painting was inspired by a verse by legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib: داغ فراق صحبت شب کی جلی ہوئی اک شمع رہ گئی ہے سو وہ بھی خموش ہے daag-e-firaaq-e-sohbat-e-shab ki jali hui ik shamma reh gai hai so wo bhi khaamosh hai Lit by the stain of separation on the night of our union A candle is all that remains, but, that too, is silent Chughtai’s painting shows the woman alone after her union with her beloved—the candle extinguished—surrounded by fallen moths. The motif of burnt moths which went too close to fire often appears in Urdu and Persian art to symbolize the fragility of passionate love. The image endures because the moth flies willingly into the fire—drawn by love so intense it would rather burn than live apart. It is a metaphor not only for romantic yearning but also for the Sufi relationship to the Divine, where the self must be annihilated to feel true union with the Beloved. To love, in this way, is to surrender to transformation—even destruction—in order to touch something eternal. In the poem and the portrait, amidst hopelessness, a faint hope of reunion with the Beloved flickers on. In stepping into this portrait, we sought to give physical form to that longing. Even in despair, sparks of hope endure. For us, this work is our flame—our version of flying into the fire together—resisting erasure through beauty, devotion, and art. A collaboration with: Director: Mahnoor Euceph @euceph Production Designer: Hashim Ali @hashimali90 @hashimalidesignstudios Director of Photography: Naveed Amjad @naveed.amjad Producer: Kamil Chima @kamilchima Costume Designer: Ghulam-e-Fatima @fatimaraza_18 Makeup Artist: Sheraz Ashraf @sherazmakeupartist Hair Stylist: M. Ali Malik @ali.hairstylist_offical Gaffer: M. Sarfaraz Camera Assistant: M. Irfan Light Assistant: M. Zahid VFX Artist: Will Wharton @good_boy_william Music: Aye Taza Waridan-e-Bisat-e-Hawa-e-Dil by Muhammad Rafi Painting: The Extinguished Flame by Abdur Rahman Chughtai