Apu talked for the first time since 2017 in Sunday’s Halloween episode, with Sunil Malhotra taking over for Hank Azaria. Manjula has a new voice, too, and both are sticking around.
Thank you, come again. And this time, he did.
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon spoke on The Simpsons on Sunday, Oct. 18, for the first time in nearly a decade. The longtime Kwik-E-Mart owner is now voiced by Sunil Malhotra, Variety first reported, and TVLine confirmed.
He replaces Hank Azaria, who voiced Apu from the show’s start until he stepped away from the role in 2020. Apu’s last spoken line aired in October 2017, in the episode “The Serfsons,” IGN noted.
His wife, Manjula, is back too, now voiced by Janina Gavankar, TVLine reported.
How did Apu come back on The Simpsons?
In a very Simpsons way. Apu returned in “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening,” the third episode of Season 38 on Fox, IGN said. It’s a spooky warm-up for “Treehouse of Horror XXXVII,” which airs next week.
In the episode, a man in a “Daft Monk” Halloween costume, a Daft Punk helmet with monk robes, keeps getting accidentally knocked off by people all over Springfield. A year later, he’s back for revenge, Variety’s recap said, as quoted by Toonado.
He gathers the town at City Hall and pulls off the helmet. It’s Apu.
“I am the man you left for dead. I am the one you pretended never existed!” he says before the big reveal.
Did The Simpsons address why Apu disappeared?
Pretty directly. Once he’s unmasked, Apu tells the town he came home to find his family gone and the Kwik-E-Mart abandoned. “It was as if I was invisible,” he says.
Then Marge speaks up, clearly standing in for the show itself. “Apu, we’re so sorry we left you for dead. Believe me, we wanted to do the right thing,” she says.
“If it’s any consolation, we had so many internal conversations about it,” Lenny adds. “Ahh, they kind of just didn’t go anywhere,” Carl says.
Homer gets the big speech, reminding everyone that Apu was on their bowling teams and in their barbershop quartet. “We took you for granted. I took you for granted,” he says.
Then Apu wakes up. It was all a nightmare, and he’s back behind the Kwik-E-Mart counter with Manjula.
Homer invites him to a Halloween party. His costume? A “Daft Monk” outfit, stashed under the register.
Who is Sunil Malhotra, the new voice of Apu?
Malhotra was born in India and raised near Chicago, according to TVLine. He’s appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, House and The West Wing.
Most of his work is in animation, including The Legend of Vox Machina, The Legend of Korra and Monster High, TVLine said.
The episode’s table read and production were done under strict NDAs, IGN reported, citing Variety.
Malhotra told Variety the sweetest part was recording Apu’s furious declaration of who he is, over and over, until they got it just right. “I really feel like we did and I can’t wait for fans to see more Apu,” he said.
Will Apu be on more Simpsons episodes?
Yes. Apu and Manjula will be seen and heard more often now, executive producer Matt Selman told Variety.
“We love this character, and wanted to bring him back in a smart, ‘Simpsons’-y way that allowed him to evolve,” Selman said. He added that the team is excited by what Malhotra “has already brought to the role.”
Why did Hank Azaria stop voicing Apu?
The criticism grew too loud to ignore. Comedian Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary, The Problem With Apu, argued the character fed stereotypes about South Asian people, partly because a white actor voiced him.
Azaria announced he would stop voicing Apu in January 2020. “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore,” he later explained, TVLine noted. “It just didn’t feel right.”
Since then, Apu has shown up only in the background, without lines.
Were there signs Apu was coming back?
A few. In July, Apu popped up on the official Simpsons account on X for the first time since 2016, in a sketch by creator Matt Groening, Newsweek reported.
He also appeared briefly in a post-apocalyptic Springfield in last year’s Treehouse of Horror, without speaking.
Who owns The Simpsons now?
Disney. It took over the show when it bought 21st Century Fox in 2019, Newsweek noted. The Simpsons still airs on Fox, which has renewed it through at least Season 40.
So the Kwik-E-Mart is open again. Bring exact change.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Variety, Michael Schneider (Oct. 18, 2026), the casting, the episode and Selman’s comments
TVLine (Oct. 18, 2026), Malhotra’s background, Gavankar and Azaria’s comments
IGN (Oct. 18, 2026), the episode details and the NDAs
Toonado (Oct. 18, 2026), the episode recap and Malhotra’s quote
Newsweek (July 14, 2026), Apu’s return to the show’s socials and the history
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