Tarsem received his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in the Himalayas in India. He came to the United States when he was twenty-four years old. His first major breakthrough work was REM’s Losing My Religion video that won MTV’s Best Video award. Since then Tarsem has done commercials for Smirnoff, Coke, Nike, Levis and Pepsi. In 2000, he directed his first feature film, THE CELL. His next feature film, THE FALL, was released in the United States in 2008. Since then Tarsem has directed the IMMORTALS (2011) starring Henry Cavill, MIRROR MIRROR (2012) starring Julia Roberts and SELF/LESS (2015) starring Ryan Reynolds. In 2016-17 Tarsem directed a 10 part mini-series EMERALD CITY for television. In 2023 directed his first feature film in Punjabi, DEAR JASSI which won the Platform Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

Among the numerous awards that Tarsem has received are the Grand Prix and several Lions from Cannes and the British Academy (BAFTA) Britannia Award. His work is also on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.