After eight years of silence, Springfield’s Kwik-E-Mart owner is back, now voiced by a South Asian actor for the first time. Here’s how we got here.
What happened?
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon spoke again in Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons on Fox, titled The Revengening. His comeback had reportedly been kept under wraps until it aired. The big change is the voice: Apu is now played by Sunil Malhotra, an actor born in India and raised in the US. Malhotra described the moment on Instagram as a reclamation, saying: “It truly is his homecoming.”
Who is Apu?
Apu has been part of The Simpsons since 1990. He runs Springfield’s Kwik-E-Mart convenience store and became one of the show’s best-loved supporting characters. For nearly three decades he was voiced by Hank Azaria, who used an exaggerated Indian accent for the role.
Why did he stop talking?
The turning point was The Problem With Apu, a 2017 documentary by Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu. It argued that the character, a South Asian shopkeeper, was built on racial stereotypes. Apu’s last speaking appearance came that October in the episode The Serfsons. After that, he stayed in Springfield but only in the background.
Azaria announced in 2020 that he would no longer voice Apu. He later said on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast that part of him felt he needed to personally apologise to every Indian person in the US.
Who is Sunil Malhotra?
Malhotra is an experienced voice and screen actor. His credits include Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, The Legend of Vox Machina, The Legend of Korra and Grey’s Anatomy.
He told Variety that when his agent mentioned a Simpsons audition, he knew right away it was for Apu, and his stomach sank. But he was also curious. Apu had been silent for eight years, and Malhotra wondered whether the writers’ room had changed. He asked himself whether the show could bring Apu back in a way that acknowledged and apologised for past mistakes, whether he could make the character his own, and whether all of that could be done in a way that still felt like The Simpsons.
How was the new Apu shaped?
Malhotra worked with showrunner Matt Selman and co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos on how to bring the character back in a way that fits 2026. He called it a “deeply collaborative experience.” He said he hopes it works both for long-time fans and for South Asian kids who, like him, eventually stopped watching the show.
Is anyone else changing?
Yes. Apu’s wife, Manjula, will now be voiced by Janina Gavankar, known for Apple TV’s The Morning Show. She takes over from Jan Hooks and Tress MacNeille.