# Pravesh Kumar

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**Pravesh Kumar** [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire)[1] is a director and writer working in theatre and film and is the [Artistic Director](/source/Artistic_director) and Chief Executive of [Rifco Theatre Company](/source/RIFCO_Arts).[2]

## Early life

Kumar grew up in [Slough, Berkshire](/source/Slough), in the United Kingdom, and attended Langley College, where he was the only student of colour on the performing arts course that year.[3] Kumar then went on to train as an actor at the [Academy of Live and Recorded Arts](/source/Academy_of_Live_and_Recorded_Arts).[3]

He is the brother of [Andy Kumar](/source/Andy_Kumar).[4]

Kumar worked in the [Hindi cinema](/source/Hindi_cinema) industry for a decade.[2]

## Career

In 1999 Kumar, along with [Ajay Chhabra](/source/Ajay_Chhabra), [Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti](/source/Gurpreet_Kaur_Bhatti) and [Harvey Virdi](/source/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](/source/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](/source/The_Offies).[10]

In June 2022, [Little English](/source/Little_English) premiered at the [London Indian Film Festival](/source/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](/source/Niraj_Chag) and songwriter Tasha Taylor-Johnson, toured the UK.[13] It was a co-production with [Watford Palace Theatre](/source/Watford_Palace_Theatre) and [HOME Manchester](/source/HOME_(Manchester)).[14]

## Credits

### Theatre

#### Directing

- *Bollywood 2000 – Yet Another Love Story* (2000, UK tour)
- *The Deranged Marriage* (2005, 2015 UK tour)
- *Meri Christmas* (2006, UK tour)
- *There's Something About Simmy* (2007, UK tour)
- *Where's My Desi Soulmate?* (2009, UK tour)
- *Britain's Got Bhangra* (2011, UK tour)
- *Break The Floorboards* (2013, UK tour)
- *Happy Birthday Sunita* (2014, 2023 UK tour)
- *Laila The Musical* (2016, UK tour)
- *Miss Meena and the Masala Queens* (2017, UK tour)
- *Pyar Actually* (2017, UK tour)
- *Dishoom!* (2018, UK tour)
- *[Abigail's Party](/source/Abigail's_Party)* (2022, Watford Palace Theatre)
- *Glitterball* (2022, UK tour)
- *Frankie Goes To Bollywood* (2024, UK tour)

#### Writing

- *Bollywood 2000 – Yet Another Love Story* (2000)
- *The Deranged Marriage (2005)*
- *There's Something About Simmy* (2007)
- *Britain's Got Bhangra* (2011)
- *Laila The Musical* (2016)
- *Mushy: Lyrically Speaking* (2019)
- *Frankie Goes To Bollywood* (2024)
- *Surinderella* (2025)

### Film

#### Directing and writing

- *Gods on Mountains* (2008)
- *The Deranged Marriage* (2019)
- *Little English* (2022)

## References

1. ["Artistic Director Pravesh Kumar honoured with MBE"](https://www.rifcotheatre.com/content/pravesh-kumar-mbe). *www.rifcotheatre.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Our team"](https://www.rifcotheatre.com/our-story/our-team). *www.rifcotheatre.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["BBC – Berkshire – Entertainment – Pravesh Kumar interview"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2004/10/18/pravesh_kumar_deranged_marrigae_interview_feature.shtml). *www.bbc.co.uk*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. BBC. ["There's Something About Simmy"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2007/09/26/simmy_feature.shtml). *www.bbc.co.uk*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. Rifco Theatre (2012-11-21). [*Theatre: Airport 2000 – Rifco's first production*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya_k4jbgiBE&t=4s). Retrieved 2025-04-07. – via YouTube.

1. Sherwood, Harriet (2022-01-08). ["Appoint people of colour to senior theatre roles, British Asian artistic director says"](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/jan/08/people-of-colour-senior-theatre-roles-pravesh-kumar). *The Guardian*. [ISSN 0261-3077](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Bollywood 2000 – Yet Another Love Story"](https://www.rifcotheatre.com/live-shows/bollywood-2000-yet-another-love-story). *www.rifcotheatre.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Pravesh Kumar MBE"](https://www.musicaltheatrenetwork.com/team/pravesh-kumar-mbe/). *Musical Theatre Network*. December 19, 2023. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Live shows"](https://www.rifcotheatre.com/live-shows). *www.rifcotheatre.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Britain's Got Bhangra"](https://www.rifcotheatre.com/live-shows/britains-got-bhangra). *www.rifcotheatre.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. Mistry, Prinesh (2022-05-10). ["Little English"](https://londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk/little-english/). *London Indian Film Festival*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. Clarke, Cath (2023-03-13). ["Little English review – warm-hearted British-Asian family tale is easy to fall for"](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/13/little-english-review-dysfunctional-punjabi-family-pravesh-kumar). *The Guardian*. [ISSN 0261-3077](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Guest Blog: 'New British Musicals Are Rare, Brown-Led Ones Are Even Rarer': Writer Pravesh Kumar on FRANKIE GOES TO BOLLYWOOD"](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Guest-Blog-New-British-Musicals-Are-Rare-Brown-Led-Ones-Are-Even-Rarer-Writer-Pravesh-Kumar-on-FRANKIE-GOES-TO-BOLLYWOOD). *Broadway World*. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

1. ["Frankie Goes to Bollywood in West End: Theatre tickets, show details, cast, and more"](https://www.whatsonstage.com/shows/west-end-theatre-3/frankie-goes-to-bollywood_1803231932/). 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pravesh Kumar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravesh_Kumar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravesh_Kumar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.