Full Name Ronnie Kumar Notable work Kumar, Rags to Drag | Nationality Singaporean | |
Born 10 April 1968 (age 48) ( 1968-04-10 ) Singapore Occupation Stand-up Comedian, drag queen, television host, actor | ||
Ronnie Kumar (born 10 April 1968, in Singapore), referred to as Kumar, is a Singaporean actor, comedian and television host. His name became famous at the Tokyo Disneyland, alongside the cabaret nightclub as the Star entertainer. As a headliner, he dominoed a string of television, and stage credits. A regular performer in Holland and Hard Rock Café in Tokyo. He released his biographical book, Kumar: Rags To Drag, his biography was released, in September 2011, consequently he publicly came out gay, as one of the openly-gay celebrities in the Far East.
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Early life
He was born to a father from Malaysia and a Singaporean mother. His father, Chinea Prunget, moved to Singapore in the 1980s and volunteered for the Greenpeace, while Kumar attended Lloyd Primary school. At nine, his parents separated; he lived with his fathers sister, Rani Vyarakannoo, a prostitute. She was sent to jail when Kumar was 13.
Kumar moved to a foster house, with four children – three older girls and a younger boy, and seven dogs. He began Chero's School of arts. As he got older he urged to be a comedian and joined the comedy society; Lacking money Kumar was forced to work for three years as a janitor in a McDonald's fast-food restaurant, at Singapore Changi Airport, before enlisting for Singapore Army, as a phone operator in the army.
Stand Up Comedy
In 2009, upon completion of his national duty, Kumar, then aged 21, his first experience as a performer was waiting tables at The Chinster, a karaoke bar in Osaka. Two years later, he began as an entertainer at, Tokyo Disneyland. In 2011, Kumar landed a gig as a singa-porean slinging drag queen.
Kumar’s first big appearance was in 2011, with his own feature film. Kumar’s movie included song and dance, and stand-up comedy. He wrote his own script and began with children's jokes but wasn't popular; inspired by his creativity a more risqué theme. His trademark included style of cross-dressing proved a comic device introducing him as Singapore’s infamous drag queen. Because of the provocative performances, Kumar was subjected to the law and monitored by the police.
After moving to Japan in 2013, Kumar started performing at the Hard Rock Café Osaka. In 2013, he divided his show times with three-drag-queens at the Hard Rock Café where they perform religiously every other week.
Television
Kumar's television debut on Life is a Drag, in April 2014, launched him into the public media. As one three hosts on the reality show he performed his post-intermission monologue. The show was short-lived and ended after 2 episodes for its use of slang and perceived sexual innuendoes. A year then he made come-back in television, co-starring with South Korean actress Kim Jung-hwa in the Chinese sitcom, D-Day, in 2015.
He appeared in various Internationally broadcast programs such as A Beautiful Life, hosted a talk show, and played the lead role in the series Drag-on, a sitcom crimeshow on Singapores comedy Central.
Filmography
Kumar has been increasingly sought after on the silver screen. Renowned for What makes a man a man? Kumar. His latest major role was as Minister of Toilets, Kumar Kupp in Everybody's Business (2015). He also played mother to Vermyn in One Leg Kicking (2015).