Tarsem Singh | |
|---|---|
) Singh at WonderCon 2011 | |
| Born | Tarsem Singh Dhandwar 26 May 1961 Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| Other names | Tarsem |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Website | www |
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, also screenwriter and producer), Immortals (2011), Mirror Mirror (2012), and Self/less (2015).
Early life
Tarsem was born in Jalandhar, Punjab to a Punjabi Sikh family. His father was an aircraft engineer.[1] 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.[2]
Career
Tarsem began his career 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 Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. He has directed commercials for brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola.[3] 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 theatrically in the United States in 2008. His third film was 2011's Immortals.[1][4] He directed an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story of "Snow White", called Mirror Mirror (2012).[5][6]
In 2020, Tarsem made his return to music videos with Lady Gaga's single "911", his first in 26 years.
Filmography as director
Film
- The Cell (2000)
- The Fall (2006, also screenwriter and producer)
- Immortals (2011)
- Mirror Mirror (2012)
- Self/less (2015)
Television
- Emerald City (2017, also executive producer)
Music videos
- En Vogue – "Hold On" (1990)
- R.E.M. – "Losing My Religion" (1991)
- Lou Reed – "What’s Good" (1992)
- Deep Forest – "Sweet Lullaby" (1994)
- Lady Gaga - "911" (2020)
References
- ^ a b Goldstein, Patrick (26 June 2007). "A 'Fall' no one wants to take". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Tarsem and the legend of "The Fall"". The Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Chhabra, Aseem. "Hindi movies often do not capture the beauty of India". Rediff.
- ^ Wise, Damon (4 October 2008). "Final fantasy". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Kit, Borys (1 November 2010). "It's Official: Tarsem Directing Relativity's Snow White Movie". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Sarafin, Jarrod. "Singh Confirmed for Snow White". Mania. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010.
- In the latter half of Kendrick Lamar's Track; M.A.A.D. City (2012) (Feat. MC eiht), the melody sampled is the one of Tarsem Singh's from his work in 'The Fall'. Music played in the film shortly after 'Roy's drowning scene'
- Henry Keazor/Thorsten Wuebbena: Video Thrills the Radio Star – Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen, Bielefeld. 2005, p. 256–260.