Tarsem Singh

"Tarsem Dhandwar Singh" (born 26 May 1961), known professionally simply as "Tarsem", is an Indian film director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials.

Tarsem was born in Jalandhar, Punjab.His father was an aircraft engineer. He grew up in the Himalayas, where his father sent him from Iran after foreseeing that the Mullahs would come into power and concluding that Iran would not be the best place to raise his child. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, located in Pasadena, California. He attended the Bishop Cotton School, Simla, India where he was the Captain of Ibbetson House in 1978 and was awarded the 'Full School Blazer' for his outstanding performance in academics.

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 smash hit 'Losing My Religion,' the latter of which won Best Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. He has directed dozens of commercials for brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola. Tarsem's feature film directorial debut was "The Cell" (2000), starring Jennifer Lopez. His 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 will be called "Immortals".

Pepsi Commercial: 'We Will Rock You'

This commercial, directed by Singh, is one of the more elaborate Pepsi commercials to date. It combines a gladiator theme with the hard rock Queen's 'We Will Rock You'. The stars involved in this commercial include Enrique Iglesias who plays the role of an emperor hoarding Pepsi, Britney Spears, Alecia Beth Moore (Pink) and Beyonce Knowles, all playing similar roles of gladiators about to engage in combat for the emperor's and crowd's enjoyment. Ultimately the gladiators turn against the emperor and throw him from his seat. Tarsem was commended within the 'Making of the Pepsi Commercial' video several occasions by Beyonce Knowles, Enrique Iglesias and Pink.