In 1999 Kumar, along with Ajay Chhabra, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and Harvey Virdi,^[5] created and staged a comedy sketch show called Airport 2000 – Asians in Transit, which was partly inspired by Kumar's time working as a British Airways check-in agent.^[6] It was the success of this production that made Kumar realise that there was a real hunger amongst British South Asian audiences for authentic stories. He describes the creation of this show as the "accidental birth of Rifco".^[6]

Rifco Theatre Company (known then as Rifco Arts) mounted another show the following year, Bollywood 2000 – Yet Another Love Story, a sketch show riffing on Bollywood's formulaic clichés.^[7] This was Kumar's theatrical directorial debut.^[8] Kumar would go on to write and direct a plethora of plays and musicals as the Artistic Director of Rifco Theatre Company, including The Deranged Marriage, There's Something About Simmy, Britain's Got Bhangra and Frankie Goes to Bollywood.^[9]

In 2011 the Rifco musical Britain's Got Bhangra, written and directed by Kumar, won the People's Favourite Musical award at The Offies.^[10]

In June 2022, Little English premiered at the London Indian Film Festival – a film written and directed by Kumar, based on his play There's Something About Simmy.^[11] The film would go on to have a limited nationwide release from 17 March 2023.^[12]

In July 2022, Kumar was awarded an MBE for his contribution to British Theatre.^[1]

In 2024, Frankie Goes to Bollywood, a musical that Kumar had been working on for several years alongside composer Niraj Chag and songwriter Tasha Taylor-Johnson, toured the UK.^[13] It was a co-production with Watford Palace Theatre and HOME Manchester.^[14]

Early life

Career

Credits

Theatre

Directing

Writing

Film

Directing and writing

References