Apu speaks again in The Simpsons as Sunil Malhotra takes over the role

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon has spoken on The Simpsons for the first time in nine years. The Kwik-E-Mart owner returned in a Halloween episode called The Revengening, which aired on Fox in the US on Sunday night, and he now has a new voice in actor Sunil Malhotra.

Malhotra is known for Grey's Anatomy and for voice work on The Legend of Korra. He is joined by Janina Gavankar, who now voices Apu's wife Manjula. In a statement, Malhotra said that bringing the character back "feels like a reclamation", adding that it is his homecoming.

Apu had not said a word since the October 2017 episode The Serfsons, although he continued to appear in the background of crowd scenes. His silence followed years of criticism of the character as a stereotype of a South Asian shopkeeper, criticism that reached a wider audience through comedian Hari Kondabolu's 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu.

Hank Azaria, who had voiced Apu since the show's early years, announced in 2020 that he would no longer play him. The following year he apologised for his part in creating and voicing the character during an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast. For a long time afterwards the producers kept Apu on screen without dialogue while they decided how, or whether, he should return.

In The Revengening, Apu sits at the centre of a single Halloween story rather than the usual anthology of short tales. The events turn out to be his own bad dream, and when he wakes he is back where viewers know him best, behind the counter of the Kwik-E-Mart, with Manjula also appearing.

Malhotra has said he hesitated when the audition came up because of the character's history, and that he met executive producer Matt Selman and co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos to talk about how Apu would be written before he agreed to take the part. Selman has said that the shop is open again and that Apu and his family will feature, and speak, more often in future episodes.

That promise matters because the debate around Apu was never only about who voiced him. The real test is whether the writing gives the Nahasapeemapetilons more depth than the running gags of the past, and a bigger role for the family will give the show room to show it. It is the latest example of animation rethinking how it represents its characters, following moves such as Avatar: Seven Havens introducing a gay couple in a new storyline.

The episode is now streaming on Hulu in the US, and UK viewers can watch The Simpsons on Disney+, where new episodes follow the American broadcast. With Apu talking again and the Kwik-E-Mart back in business, the coming weeks should show how much space Springfield is ready to give him.

Images: Disney.