Apu and his wife Manjula returned to The Simpsons on the Sunday night broadcast of 18 October 2026, after nine years away, now voiced by South Asian actors Sunil Malhotra and Janina. The recasting follows years of criticism that Hank Azaria, a white actor, voiced the character in a heavy Indian accent. Hari Kondabolu, whose 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu drove the criticism, welcomes the change but says it depends on how the character is written from here. Coverage since has focused on Apu speaking on the show for the first time in a decade, with Malhotra in the role.