After years of backlash, Apu returns to 'The Simpsons' with a South
Asian voice
[October 20, 2026]
By TERRY TANG and DEEPTI HAJELA
Across 38 seasons of “The Simpsons,” the Halloween-themed “Treehouse of
Horror” episodes have always been a treat of spooky stand-alone
storylines. On Sunday, the show surprised viewers with a major
resurrection: Apu, the beloved Kwik-E-Mart operator who had not been
heard for the better part of a decade, spoke once again in Springfield.
He and his wife, Manjula, were back with a meaty plotline — and the
voices of actual Indian American actors: Sunil Malhotra, a veteran
voice-over artist, and Janina Gavankar (“The Morning Show”).
“Bringing Apu back feels like a reclamation. It truly IS his
homecoming,” Malhotra and Gavankar said Sunday in a joint Instagram
post.
Apu's unheralded return is a remarkable twist to a yearslong discourse
about how the character has represented a painful stereotype for some
South Asian Americans. After a 2017 documentary by comedian Hari
Kondabolu, “The Problem With Apu,” the character was largely exiled from
the screen.
How a documentary on Apu became a turning point
In “The Problem With Apu,” Kondabolu, a self-described fan of the Fox
show, tried to process his misgivings. He interviewed a slew of
celebrities of South Asian origin, including Kal Penn, Utkarsh Ambudkar
and Hasan Minhaj, about growing up with the character. They shared
memories of being bullied and called “Apu” as an insult. Adding to their
view of Apu as just a caricature was that Hank Azaria, a white actor,
voiced him.
With the full name of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Jr., he felt like the
“forever foreigner, someone who represents Indians in the United States
through this sole typology of being a convenience store owner, being a
recent immigrant, having this heavy accent, being really limited in this
sort of like American identity,” says Bhoomi Thakore, an assistant
professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. Thakore notes
that Kondabolu's film raised the notion that Apu was the only portrayal
of an Indian character most people knew when he debuted in 1990.
Azaria stepped away from the role after the documentary, continuing to
voice other “Simpsons” characters, as Apu fell silent, seen only in the
background. Kondabolu, however, had never called for Apu to be canceled.
On Monday, he praised “The Simpsons” for devising “a clever solution to
all this” and hiring Malhotra and Gavankar.
“I’m also still proud of the public conversation about race and
representation my documentary started,” he told The Associated Press in
an emailed statement. “Finally, I’m hoping this stops all the hatemail
in many languages that has been sent my way over the past decade.”
After years in the background, Apu appears here to stay
In a 2018 episode, “The Simpsons” responded to Kondabolu's documentary
by having Lisa Simpson bemoan how “something that started decades ago
and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. ... What
can you do?” The camera then panned to a framed photo of Apu. The gag
was branded by some as weak for not directly addressing the controversy.
In a 2020 New York Times interview, Azaria, who by then hadn't voiced
Apu in a few years, announced he would bow out because “it just didn't
feel right.” Later that year, in response to racial reckoning
demonstrations, “The Simpsons” announced it would no longer cast white
voice actors as characters of color. The show then recast two Black
characters, Carl Carlson and Dr. Julius Hibbert, with Black actors.
Kondabolu had not spoken with “The Simpsons” producers about Apu’s
comeback, he confirmed to the AP, “but they didn’t owe me that.” And it
does sound like Apu is here to stay.
“We love this character and wanted to bring him back in a smart,
Simpsons-y way that allowed him to evolve,” executive producer Matt
Selman said in a statement. “We’re excited by what Sunil has already
brought to the role and look forward to seeing more of Apu in the
future.”
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Children appear next to a window display featuring "The Simpsons"
character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Jr. outside a 7-Eleven Kwik-E-Mart
in Burbank, Calif., on July 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,
File)
 Apu was also embraced by South
Asians, despite the controversy
A few weeks after “The Simpsons” responded to the documentary,
author and producer Amar Shah wrote a series of social media posts
and then a Washington Post op-ed on why he felt mostly sentimental
toward Apu. When he watched Apu, he thought of his own Indian father
hard at work as a convenience store owner and how that shaped his
Florida childhood.
“Apu even now is a character that I wouldn't mind my kids seeing
represented because they'll see aspects of themselves and of their
own grandparents,” says Shah, reflecting on his 2018 piece. “I can
totally empathize with someone of South Asian origin having a
different POV (point of view) than me but this is my childhood. This
is my story.”
After watching this latest episode, Shah didn't sense any
significant difference with Malhotra's performance.
“Obviously, there's a different voice, tenor, texture and all that.
But, the character is always going to be there, his genuine
humanity,” Shah says. “I think if they had incorporated this change
earlier, it would have been a lot better.”
At a time of anti-South Asian hate, Apu's return is welcomed
Apu is being revived amid a climate of rising anti-South Asian and
Indian hate. Stop AAPI Hate and other research groups have found
online use of racist slurs and threats against South Asians and
Indians have jumped in the past few years.
Texas Railroad Commission candidate Bo French, a Republican,
recently posted a photo of South Asian University of Texas students
cheering at a football game and called them “a problem.” Just last
week, a man was charged with planning a mass shooting at a Hindu
temple outside Chicago. Against that backdrop, Shah welcomes the
show's careful approach reincarnating the character.
“It's great to see that the show has evolved in time and now,
especially with the discrimination and, really, the targeting of
South Asians and Indian Americans as of late — questioning our
patriotism, our American identity and even whether we're college
football fans,” he says.
The return also coincides with much more representation of prominent
South Asian Americans, such as actor and showrunner Mindy Kaling,
and people who have broken barriers in office, like New York City
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
When Apu first appeared, says University of Virginia associate
professor of media studies Shilpa Davé, he was one of the only
consistent representations of South Asians on TV.
Now, she says, “South Asians have become a part of the landscape
from ‘Bridgerton’ to … ‘Never Have I Ever’ and there’s a plethora of
different kinds of representation.”
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Associated Press journalist Mallika Sen contributed reporting.
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