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 now defunct 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 3-Monkeys Café in Holland Village and Hard Rock Café. He released his biographical book, Kumar: From Rags To Drag, in September 2011, in which he publicly came out as gay, making him one of the few openly-gay public figures in Singapore.^[1]^[2] He also discussed his then-twenty years in show business.

Early life[]

Kumar was born on 10 August 1968 to a South Indian father from Madras and a Singaporean mother.^[3] 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.

Kumar grew up in a terrace house on Paterson Road with his parents, three siblings – three older sisters, and six dogs. He went to Cairnhill and Selegie Primary schools and later attended Monk’s Hill Secondary School. As a child, he aspired to be a Bharathanatyam - a classical dance form from Tamil Nadu - dancer and joined the Indian Dance Society in his secondary school. After his O levels, Kumar worked for six months as a cashier at a convenience store before enlisting for National Service where he served as a combat signaler in the army and held the record for one of the fastest times in his cohort for the completion of the 2.4 km run. Kumar now currently lives in Serangoon North in the Central-East Region of Singapore.

In 2006, Vasantham Central broadcast a programme entitled, "Kumar: Truth or dare" in which he bared his soul as he narrated his life story[1],[2],[3]:

Stand Up Comedy[]

In 1987, after serving his conscription, Kumar, then aged 22, had his first exposure to the entertainment industry as a singing waiter at Cheers! The Fun Pub at the Novotel Orchid. Two years later, he began a stint as an entertainer at Haw Par Villa. In 1991, Kumar landed a gig at the now defunct Laughs Comedy Club in Tanglin Shopping Centre playing the role of an Indian drag queen. It was then when he realized comedy was his calling.

Kumar’s big break came in 1992 when he was offered the starring role at the newly established Boom Boom Room in New Bugis Street which opened on National Day the same year. At Boom Boom Room, Kumar’s routines included song and dance, in addition to stand-up comedy. He wrote most of his own material and had initially started with clean jokes which proved unpopular, drawing chilly responses from his audience; that led him to go with more risqué ones for which he is now known. His cross-dressing which came about as a comic device and a gimmick eventually became his trademark as he came to be Singapore’s most well-known drag queen with his caustic wit and biting observations about life in Singapore, particularly about politics, race, and sex. Because of the provocative nature of his shows, Kumar’s performances were subjected to scrutiny and monitoring by the police. Once a year, he had to perform his entire show for an audience of police officers before he was allowed to put it up for the public.

After moving to Far East Square in 2000, Boom Boom Room closed for good in 2005, and 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 splitting his time between Hard Rock Café and 3-Monkeys Café where he performs regularly for four nights a week.

Kumar is also a regular performer at Chameleon Lounge Club on Dempsey Road.

Television[]

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.

Stage/Theatre[]

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).

Filmography[]

Kumar has been increasingly sought after on the silver screen. His latest major role was as Minister of Toilets, Kumari Kuppusamy in Everybody's Business (2013). He also played mother to Vernon in One Leg Kicking (2001).

Coming out as a parent[]

On 6 July 2023, Our Grandfather Story uploaded to its Facebook page a video interview with Kumar[4][5], then 54 years of age, who revealed a side of him never before seen by the public. He had kept a 29-year old adopted son away from the limelight since 2012[6].

"I never imagined that someone would call me 'Mummy'," Kumar confessed. "I'm a very private person, very reserved, so people don't know that I'm a parent to a boy who is 30 years old this year." Kumar shared that the individual he had come to call his own was actually his friend's younger brother, Sathin.

"He told me, 'I fought with my father. Can I stay with you for a few days?' One night became 11 years," Kumar recalled. Sathin had anger issues that caused him to quarrel with his father, which led him to leave his home for good. Although Sathin's parents kept asking him to return home, the young man refused. Once, his mother went to Kumar's house, looked at his living conditions and left, Kumar recalledd. "I told myself without asking her, 'Okay, I think I'm a parent now.'"

But Sathin's anger did flare up again and it took aim at Kumar, the latter remembered. His adopted son did not return home one night, so Kumar confronted him and asked for the reason behind his actions. Sathin did not take kindly to this and "threatened" him, Kumar said, but he eventually found out why Sathin was away. "He replied, 'My house has no PlayStation 4'. So I ran to the shopping mall to get a PlayStation 4. Then he came back immediately, and you could see the glow on my face."

Kumar also brought Sathin to meet ex-convicts to set him straight, the latter shared. "Sometimes we do see fights and all, and she (Kumar) said, 'You see, you want to be there? Do you want to be like them?'" Sathin recounted, adding that this taught him that he ought to control himself and his emotions, lest he ended up behind bars.

However, public perception of his relationship with Sathin had not always been positive, even among those that Kumar would have called friends. "I had friends who asked me before, 'Have you touched him?'," he shared. "I said, 'What do you mean?' Is it because I'm gay? Like, I would touch him for..." Visibly upset while recalling this encounter, Kumar cut himself off and shared with the interviewers that he told his friend to "get out" afterwards. "I can't have friends who can't understand," he said. "Just because we're gay doesn't mean that we would touch whoever we are parenting differently."

Kumar also recounted how he was abused as a child by his father because "the only thing that reminded him of the failed marriage were the kids". Contemplating his past, Kumar said: "If someone were there to help me when I was younger, I would not have been so helpless. So when Sathin came to my house, I thought I could see myself in him." Despite his father's abusive tendencies in the past, Kumar forgave him, although he regretted being unable to convey those words to his father before the latter died from cancer.

Family was currently one of Kumar's key priorities, and he spent quality time with his siblings and Sathin. "I never dreamed of being a parent, so I was very surprised that I can actually give someone so much love, you know? I think people need to learn that nothing beats a family connection."

References[]

External links[]

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