Filmmaker Tarsem Singh takes us inside his eclectic London penthouse

Like most sensible people, filmmaker Tarsem Singh spent most of 2020 indoors. Perhaps because his London home is not very different from one of his whimsical sets, he did not find this homebound time so challenging. “My life is kind of quarantined anyway. If I am not doing anything, 85 per cent of the time I’m at home. I have no distinction between weekdays and weekends,” says the 59-year-old auteur.

Located in a bustling street past Trafalgar Square and the English National Opera, his penthouse is set amidst Georgian-style facades. Inside lies an open space, which is energised by exquisite textures and bold colours and blends an eclectic mix of periods, genres and styles.

Built as a bachelor pad, the house is full of personality and, on closer look, unveils the story of its famed inhabitant: “I always knew that I wanted to live in central London and I always thought that it’d be only for one person,” he says. “But when my family comes, it’s 15 people and everyone sleeps on the floor.”

Singh’s born-in-India, built-in-London trajectory manifests in every quadrant of the house, which marries East and West aesthetics by balancing the mystical elegance of chinoiserie with midcentury modern furniture. “While I was growing up, my father worked in Iran, so I was there for three months and in Shimla for the rest of the year. Both cultures, Iranian and Indian, like sitting on the ground,” he says, pointing to the centrepiece of his living room, the iconic Roche Bobois floor-seating. “The main reason I bought the Mah Jong sofa was that it allows you to be formal and informal at the same time.”

Punctuated by colour and ingenuity, and prioritising comfort with charm, the vibe of the space is casual yet sophisticated. “I like the openness in the house,” says Singh, “Here, all the spaces are open and I use every corner of the house. There is no door you can lock, it’s all sliding doors with not much privacy.”

Singh’s brief was simple: create an open space with minimal boundaries. The architect was given a three-pronged approach: “Make all the spaces open for maximum use, install a bridge in the middle with a staircase to the mezzanine, and have the bedroom and bath overlooking the roof garden.” Singh’s unabashed eclecticism comes to play in the bathroom, where the deep-blue ceiling spotlights a unique stainless steel shower he brought home from a shoot. “It is an industrial shower used by real prisoners in an actual British prison,” he says.

Pre-pandemic, Singh spent early 2020 shooting a commercial in South Africa for the Tokyo Olympics. “I am really into long-format now. I am nostalgically thinking about what project I’d like to do based in India,” shares the director of the Jennifer Lopez- starrer The Cell (2000) and the Julia Roberts-starrer Mirror Mirror (2012).

This time at home has made him relook at spaces. “I’ve always hated cooking. I used to say I’d rather die of hunger than make toast, but I absolutely love cooking now and am becoming a bit addicted to the kitchen.” His Bulthaup design kitchen, a cosy nook located right below the master bedroom, is a nod to the Scandinavian clean-line aesthetic, accentuated by Wishbone chairs. “I think I now need to change the kitchen everywhere,” he says.

The ‘everywhere’ refers to his other homes—a similar bachelor pad in Montreal and a space on a cul-de-sac in Los Angeles, which once belonged to fashion photographer Herb Ritts. “But this [London] is the first place I ever made and I got started with removing the roof, the floor, everything to make it exactly like this.” 

In London, after the initial remodelling and reconstruction, Singh recruited interior designer Caroline Cobbold, who worked on his home like an art director would on his movies. The challenge, Cobbold says, was in creating a fluidity between the new interiors and the pre-existing Asian feel of the space. Repainting the walls to red and adding mid-century modern furniture with contemporary objects, she refreshed it with clean modern art objects and bright, cheerful patterns to harmonise the intense colours and add some artistic vitality. The result is an alchemy of contrasting colours and textures, which reveal a fearless decorator, a trait that is much in sync with Singh, whose directorial masterpiece, The Fall (2016), was a fantasy film that introduced the world to visual storytelling.

Home improvement

Like any well-lived home, this London house has changed with its occupant over the years. “I was a minimalist, so this house was originally predominantly white and in the Nordic style,” shares Singh, who, back in the ’90s began his career directing music videos, notably for R.E.M’s award-winning song ‘Losing My Religion’, which catapulted him to fame. “That was until the visit to the Conran Shop,” he laughs, pointing to the artful pieces that are placed near the vibrant spread-out sofa—a table by Jonathan Adler, sculptures by the Brazilian artist Bruno Giorgi and a custom-made de Gournay chinoiserie wallpaper, which give the space a contrasting yet collected feel.

Even today, the house continues to adapt and metamorphose to his changing needs. “About 15 years ago, I had a crazy party here. It was around 500-600 people,” recalls Singh. “After a few parties, the house started to look a bit tired and I thought, ‘Okay, the party days are over.’” Now calmer, cleaner and more collected, the space remains cosy yet accommodating, much like its owner: “This is still a space designed for one person, but 20 people can sleep on the floor, if needed.”

—With inputs by Megha Mahindru

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