Tarsem Singh
Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed The Cell (2000), The Fall (2006), Immortals (2011), Mirror Mirror (2012), Self/less (2015), and Dear Jassi (2023).
Also recorded as Tarsem Dhandwar Singh · Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Tarsem Singh

Sirab · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Born
- 1961. · Jalandhar.
- Nationality
- India.
- Occupation
- film producer, screenwriter, executive producer and director.
- Education
- Bishop Cotton School and Hansraj College.
- Honours
- MTV Video Music Awards.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed The Cell (2000), The Fall (2006), Immortals (2011), Mirror Mirror (2012), Self/less (2015), and Dear Jassi (2023).
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Note VALÉORINE
Tarsem Singh (born 1961) is a director, executive producer and film producer, among other activities, of Indian nationality. The director was born in Jalandhar. Tarsem Singh was educated at Bishop Cotton School and Hansraj College.
Languages used include English. Honours include MTV Video Music Awards.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Early life
Early life
Tarsem was born in Jalandhar, Punjab to a Punjabi Sikh family. His father was an aircraft engineer. He attended Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, Hans Raj College in Delhi, and is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Singh's classmates included future film directors Michael Bay and Zack Snyder. Singh also acted in the student films of Bay and Snyder, including playing a Nazi in one of the latter's works.
Career
Career
Tarsem began his career by directing music videos, including those of "Hold On" by En Vogue, "Sweet Lullaby" by Deep Forest and R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion", the latter of which won Best Music Video, Short Form at the 1992 Grammy Awards. He has directed commercials for brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola. Tarsem's feature film directorial debut was The Cell (2000), starring Jennifer Lopez. In 2003, Tarsem directed one of the most elaborate Pepsi commercials to date. It combined a gladiator theme with Queen's "We Will Rock You". The commercial starred Enrique Iglesias in the version of the commercial aired in Europe and North America and Amr Diab in the version aired in the Arab world. Tarsem's second film, The Fall, debuted at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in theatres in the United States in 2008. His third film was 2011's Immortals which he directed for Relativity Media and Universal Pictures. He directed an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story of "Snow White", called Mirror Mirror (2012). In 2020, Tarsem made his return to music videos with Lady Gaga's single "911", his first in 26 years. In 2021, his Super Bowl ad for Toyota featuring the adoption of US Paralympian Jessica Long won significant critical acclaim. He also directed the Microsoft Windows 11 commercial Journey which featured the song "Brings You Closer to What You Love" by Odessa, an appearance by Master Chief from Halo (Xbox) and dancers emerging through a painting by Clifford Bailey. His 2023 film Dear Jassi premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was the winner of the Platform Prize.
Music video
Music video
Suzanne Vega - "Tired of Sleeping" (1990) En Vogue – "Hold On" (1990) R.E.M. – "Losing My Religion" (1991) The Dream Academy – "Love" (1991) Dream Warriors – "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" (1991) Deep Forest – "Sweet Lullaby" (1994) Lady Gaga – "911" (2020)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
2006
The Fall - Tarsem Singh - 2006 sub Ita-Eng (2024) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2024
The Fall - Tarsem Singh - 2006 sub Ita-Eng digitised by Internet Archive.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Goldstein, Patrick. A 'Fall' no one wants to take. Los Angeles Times. 26 June 2007.
- 2.No retakes for Tarsem Singh. The Times of India. 17 November 2003. 0971-8257.
- 3.Ebert, Roger. Tarsem and the legend of "The Fall". The Chicago Sun-Times. 3 June 2008.
- 4.Giroux, Jack. Interview: Tarsem Singh on 'Mirror Mirror' and What Michael Bay Was Like in College. Film School Rejects. 2012-04-06.
- 5.Chhabra, Aseem. Hindi movies often do not capture the beauty of India. Rediff. 26 May 2008.
- 6.Wise, Damon. Final fantasy. The Guardian. 2008-10-03. 0261-3077.
- 7.Kit, Borys. It's Official: Tarsem Directing Relativity's Snow White Movie. The Hollywood Reporter. 1 November 2010.
- 8.Sarafin, Jarrod. Singh Confirmed for Snow White. Mania.
- 9.The real story behind the Super Bowl's most moving advert. The Independent. 8 February 2021.
- 10.interpublic.com. Microsoft's Windows 11 Brings You Closer to What You Love. 19 September 2021.
- 11.Bramesco, Charles. Dear Jassi review – Hollywood maximalist makes first Indian movie. The Guardian. 2023-09-11. 0261-3077.
- 12.Pond, Steve. 'American Fiction' Wins Toronto Film Festival's Audience Award. TheWrap. 2023-09-17.
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