Kumar (Singaporean entertainer)
| Kumar | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kumarason Chinnadurai 10 August 1968 Singapore |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Occupation | Stand-up Comedian, drag queen, television host, actor |
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. He also discussed his then-twenty years in show business.
Kumar was born on 10 August 1968 to a South Indian father 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.
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 resides in Serangoon North, in the Central-East Region of Singapore.
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.
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