Kumar (Singaporean entertainer)

Singaporean entertainer (born 1968)

Kumarason Chinnadurai (born 10 August 1968, in Singapore), popularly known as Kumar, is a Singaporean Indian comedian and television host, actor, and drag queen. He made his name at the Boom Boom Room and was, for a time, synonymous with the cabaret nightclub as its resident performer. Having spent nearly two decades as an entertainer, he has amassed a string of television, stage, and film credits. Currently, he is a regular performer at Hard Rock Café. He released his biographical book, Kumar: From Rags To Drag, in September 2011. In his book, he publicly came out as gay, making him the first entertainer in Singapore to come out. He is one of the few openly gay public figures in Singapore.

Kumar was born on 10 August 1968 in a South Indian Mudaliar family from Madras and a Singaporean mother. His father, Chinna Dorai, arrived in Singapore in the mid 1960s and worked as a caretaker for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). When Kumar was four, his parents divorced; he was raised by his mother's younger sister, Rani Vyarakannoo, a policewoman, who eventually became his step mother. According to Kumar, his father became an alcoholic after his mother left and he became abusive to his children because "the only thing that reminded him of the failed marriage were the kids". Kumar started performing at a theatre bar called Gold Dust (of which he was part owner) in Orchard Towers. In 2007, he sold his share of the club and has since been performing three nights a week at 3 Monkeys Café. Kumar was also a regular performer at Chameleon Lounge Club on Dempsey Road.

Kumar made his television debut in 1993 as one of the three hosts of The Ra Ra Show, a comedy chat show which started airing in April 1993. The show proved to be short lived and ended its run after ten months when viewers complained about the liberal use of Singlish and perceived sexual innuendoes in the show. It would be eight years before he returned to television, starring opposite Hong Kong actress Carol Cheng in the English sitcom, Oh Carol!, in 2001. Since then, Kumar has appeared in various English television programs such as My Sassy Neighbour and Front; he also hosted three seasons of Rusiyo Rusi, a travelogue cooking show, and played the titular character in the crime comedy series P. I. K. (Private Investigator Krish) on Vasantham Central. One of the most salient differences between Kumar's appearances on television and his shows in clubs is that he does not perform in drag on television.

Kumar's first foray into theatre was in 1997 when he was offered a role in Dick Lee’s musical, Hot Pants. This was quickly followed by Kumar: A Life Alive, a comedy musical based on his own journey to stardom. His other stage credits include Meena and Me (1999), ABUSE SUXXX!!! (2001), and Not Guilty (2004). Kumar has also taken his stand up comedy to the stage, putting up a number of one man shows both abroad and at home, such as his performance at Wallpaper* magazine’s first anniversary party in London, and, at home, a semi annual series of shows produced by Dream Academy, from Kumar The Queen (2007), Crazy Christmas (annual), Kumar: Stripped Bare & Standing up (2009 2010), Kumar’s Amazing Race (2011 2012), Kings and Queens of Asia (2011 2012) by Comedy Club Asia and Kumar: What makes a man a man? (2013 2014).

From childhood, Kumar had dressed at home as a girl. When his parents discovered his cross dressing as an adult for his work, his father did not speak to him for seven years, and his mother thought he was a prostitute. Due to transgender discrimination in Singapore, it is common for trans women to work as prostitutes. While he first came out to fans as gay in his 2009 performance Kumar: Stripped Bare and Standing Up, Kumar made it official in her 2011 biography. and a student from the National University of Singapore noted that Kumar was the first transgender celebrity to serve as an ambassador to the annual LGBT Pride event in Singapore called Pink Dot.