Fans of “The Simpsons” were caught by surprise by Sunday’s episode when a familiar animated face returned to Springfield. It was Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the former owner of the Kwik-E-Mart.
Apu had not been heard on an episode in almost a decade, after a documentary scrutinized the effects of having a white actor voice the character. That set off a debate, both within and outside South Asian communities, about how the entertainment industry regards people of South Asian descent.
On Sunday’s episode, entitled “The Revengening,” part of the series’s annual Halloween-themed “Treehouse of Horror” anthology, Apu returns to get payback on the residents of Springfield.
“I am Apu!” he yells as he removes a Daft Punk-inspired helmet off to reveal himself.
“You thought you could just get rid of me? That I’d disappear?” he asks the assembled residents of Springfield. “That there wouldn’t be consequences for the horrible thing you did?”
Apu was voiced in the episode by Sunil Malhotra, whose voice credits include “Star Wars: Tales of The Jedi” and “The Legend of Vox Machina.”
“When my agent called me about a ‘Simpsons’ audition, I knew exactly what role it was for, and the idea actually made my stomach sink,” Malhotra told Variety. “But admittedly, part of me was also curious.”
For decades, Apu was voiced by Hank Azaria, who is white, and became notable for his catchphrase, “Thank you. Come again,” delivered in a cartoonish Indian accent.
In 2017, the comedian Hari Kondabolu, who is of South Asian descent, released “The Problem With Apu,” a documentary film detailing the ways he, and many other South Asian performers, found the character offensive. He made the case that Apu was emblematic of a larger problem with how South Asians were presented in Hollywood.
To his supporters, Apu was a celebrated immigrant in Springfield — a testament to the American dream. And besides, some pointed out, “The Simpsons” lampoons everyone.
To Apu’s detractors, he was a clumsy stereotype whose catchphrase was repeatedly used to mock Indian Americans. He wasn’t even voiced by a South Asian in an industry that eschewed giving them prominent roles in movies and television, they said.
Kondabolu — a longtime fan of “The Simpsons” — said Apu was “a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father.”
Azaria immediately expressed discomfort with playing the role.
“I think the documentary made some really interesting points and gave us a lot of things to think about,” Azaria told TMZ at the end of 2017, adding that he found the situation “upsetting.”
He would not voice the role again. On the podcast “Armchair Expert” in 2021, Azaria said, “Part of me feels like I need to go to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologize.”
The creative team behind the show reacted differently, seemingly dismissing concerns about the character. During the show’s 29th season in 2018, in an episode titled “No Good Read Goes Unpunished,” the brainy Lisa Simpson turns to the camera and addresses the audience, saying, “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?”
The shot then pans to a framed picture of Apu.
Marge, Lisa’s mother, responds: “Some things will be dealt with at a later date.”
Followed by Lisa saying, “If at all.”
Apu’s return comes at a fraught time for Indian Americans, who have faced a surge of racism in recent years, while also increasing their political power.
Malhotra did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. In his Variety interview, he described his doubts about voicing Apu, saying that he had walked away from offers to voice other South Asian characters in the past when he felt they were caricatures.
“It had been eight years since Apu had spoken on the show, and it got me thinking: Did the writers’ room look different now?” Malhotra said to Variety. “Could they bring him back in a way that acknowledged and apologized for past mistakes? Could I make the character my own, and reclaim him in some way?”
He added in an Instagram post, “Bringing Apu back feels like a reclamation. It truly IS his homecoming.”
Apu’s wife Manjula, who had been voiced by “Saturday Night Live” alum Jan Hooks and Tress MacNeille, also has a new actor voicing her: Janina Gavankar, whose credits include “The Morning Show.”
Kondabolu, the comedian who spurred the earlier discussion about Apu, said in an email that he was “happy that ‘The Simpsons’ found a clever solution to all this and that two South Asian Americans were hired to do voice acting work.”
He continued, “Also, I’m hoping this stops all the hate mail in many languages that has been sent my way over the past decade.”
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