Apu Nahasapeemapetilon has a voice again. In season 38’s third episode, “The Revengening”, which aired Sunday 18 October on Fox in the US, IGN reports that actor Sunil Malhotra debuted as the Kwik-E-Mart owner, ending a silence of nearly a decade.
Spoilers for the episode follow.
Variety broke the news, reporting that Apu hadn’t been heard on the show since the October 2017 episode “The Serfsons”. The return was a closely guarded secret. Variety says Fox didn’t share a screener and producers kept the table read and production under tight protocols, including NDAs for everyone involved. Malhotra’s credits include The Legend of Korra, The Legend of Vox Machina, Grey’s Anatomy and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.
How the episode handles it
The episode doesn’t pretend nothing happened. A man in a Daft Punk-style Halloween costume is accidentally killed repeatedly by Springfield’s residents. A year on, he’s still alive and picking off his would-be killers one by one. When he’s unmasked, he’s Apu, and he tells the town, “I am the man you left for dead. I am the one you pretended never existed!”
Marge then speaks for the writers’ room as much as for Springfield: “Apu, we’re so sorry we left you for dead.” Bart adds that they were scared and didn’t know what to do. The Variety report adds that the story is framed as a nightmare, and Apu ends up back behind the counter at the Kwik-E-Mart, invited to a Halloween party by Homer.
Why Apu went quiet
Hank Azaria originally voiced the character, who became controversial for his stereotypical portrayal of a South Asian shopkeeper. The 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu, in which comedian Hari Kondabolu discussed the character’s impact on South Asian people, put the issue at the centre of the debate. In 2020, Azaria said he was officially stepping down as the voice of Apu, and in 2021 he told Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast that he felt he needed to apologise personally to Indian people. Apu stayed on screen in the background, but silent.
Malhotra says he almost didn’t take the job. He told Variety the audition call made his “stomach sink”, and that he met showrunner Matt Selman and co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos before committing. He says he wanted to know whether the show could bring Apu back in a way that acknowledged past mistakes. The idea of doing so in a Halloween episode came from staffer Nick Dahan, the credited writer, and Mazariegos.
What comes next
Apu isn’t a one-off cameo. The episode also introduced Janina Gavankar as the new voice of Apu’s wife, Manjula, and Selman confirmed to Variety that both characters will be heard regularly again. Selman said the producers wanted to return Apu in a “smart, ‘Simpsons’-y way” that let him evolve.
“The Revengening” also serves as the lead-up to next week’s “Treehouse of Horror XXXVII,” per Variety, so Apu’s return arrives with the show’s annual Halloween special close behind.
Who voices Apu now?
Sunil Malhotra, who debuted in the role in “The Revengening”. He takes over from Hank Azaria, who stepped away from the part.
When did Apu last speak on The Simpsons?
In the October 2017 episode “The Serfsons”. After that he appeared in the background without dialogue until this episode.
Will Apu appear again?
Executive producer Matt Selman told Variety that Apu and Manjula will be seen and heard more often going forward.
