Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
"Thank You Come Again!" -Apu's catch phrase
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
| ||||||||||||||||
Character Information
|
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a fictional character featured on the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria.
Profile
Apu is proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a local convenience store. An immigrant from India who arrived in 1988, he is, like most Simpsons characters, a caricature of a common stereotype – in his case; the stereotype of the Indian convenience-store owner. His most defining characteristics are his Indian English and his indefatigable immigrant work ethic. His catchphrase is "Thank you, come again!" — cheerfully and dutifully repeated to customers (no matter how unpleasant) after each transaction, even after a robbery. According to episode 216, his favourite food is "ancestor chili". In the episode Lisa the Vegetarian, Apu reveals being a vegan. He has also been shot and robbed many times, often by Snake Jailbird.
As the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu charges high prices for low quality products, which are often past their shelf life or otherwise unfit to consume. In "Lisa's Pony" Homer finds out he is the only person who eats the Kwik-E-Mart hot dogs, as they have never been moved from their display case. Apu seems to be the only person to know about the quality of the food, as he refuses to eat it, even when trapped inside the Kwik-E-Mart for 96 hours (near the end he thought he was a hummingbird). When Apu loses his job in Homer and Apu, he shouts "I don't want to live any more", and starts to eat a hot dog, only to be stopped by another worker saying "It's not worth it!" He has also told his children to never eat the food because "food from Kwik-E can make you sickey". Since the Kwik-E-Mart is open 24 hours and on holidays, and Apu is usually the only employee, it is important to him to never close and to never leave his shift. On the rare times the store has to close, signs are posted saying such things as "We’re never closed (except today)" or "Closed for the first time ever".
Apu is a U.S. citizen and holds a Ph.D. in computer science. He graduated first in his class of seven million at 'Caltech' — the Calcutta Institute of Technology — going on to earn his doctorate at the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. He was also a brother of Alpha Pi Upsilon. His doctoral thesis was the world's first computer program to play perfect tic-tac-toe. (Years later, Apu trashed the program after Bart Simpson pulled out a random punch card and messed up the whole program.) Apu began working at the Kwik-E-Mart during his college years to pay off his student loan but never left. He remained an illegal immigrant until Mayor Quimby proposed a municipal law to expel all undocumented aliens. Apu responded by purchasing a forged birth certificate from the Springfield Mafia, which listed his parents as U.S. citizens Herb and Judy Nahasapeemapetilon, but when this failed, he successfully managed to pass his citizenship test with help from Lisa and Homer Simpson. During the early 1980s, Apu was a member of the barbershop quartet The Be Sharps, along with Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble and Seymour Skinner. Upon the advice of the band manager Nigel, Apu took the stage name Apu du Beaumarchais (a reference to Beaumarchais, author of The Barber of Seville). During a press conference, a reporter asked if Apu was actually Hindu, to which Apu responds, "By the many arms of Vishnu, I swear it is a lie."
Apu has been married to Manjula since the season nine episode "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" and in the season eleven episode "Eight Misbehavin', she bore Octuplets: Anoop, Uma, Nabendu, Poonam, Priya, Sandeep, Sashi and Gheet.
Apu and Manjula were wed through an arranged marriage. Despite trying to wriggle out of the arrangement at first, Apu was won over soon after meeting Manjula and the two actually did fall in love. Later, Manjula gave birth (in the episode Eight Misbehavin') to octuplets after receiving too many doses of fertility drugs from herself, Apu and the well-meaning, but non-synchronized, Simpsons.
Apu and Manjula have a mostly happy marriage despite understandable marital problems caused by Apu's workaholic nature and long hours, the strain of caring for eight children, and an instance of infidelity by Apu with the Squishee lady. When Apu was unfaithful to Manjula, one of his punishments was to legally change his name to Slime Q. Slimedog. He and his family are devotees of the Hindu gods Shiva, Ganesha and Vishnu. Homer, in a misguided attempt to play on the bride and groom's families' fear of the gods, arrived at Apu's wedding dressed as the Hindu god Ganesha. The impersonation was called out by one of Apu's relatives, who exclaimed, "You are not Ganesh! Ganesh is graceful!" (Ironically the Simpsons used this same trick later to try to keep the couple from divorcing.) Before his marriage, Apu became known as the leading ladies' man in Springfield, because he holds a PhD and runs his own business. His sex appeal was enhanced when he admitted, "I'm not much of a talker, but I love to listen. I also like to design and build furniture and then to have a discussion about where it could be placed in a room."
Sanjay, Apu's brother, helped run the Kwik-E-Mart. Sanjay's daughter is Pahasatira, and his son is Jamshed. They all shared the Nahasapeemapetilon surname. Apu has another younger brother, who is only mentioned in The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons. When Apu's and Manjula's parents were first arranging their marriage, Apu was shown as the oldest of three as shown on a chart. Apu also has a cousin living in India named Kavi, who helped Homer while he was in India. He works for several American companies taking service calls using American, cowboy and Jamaican accents. Kavi appeared in the episode Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, which is set in Bangalore.
Character
Creation
Apu's first name is a homage to the main character in the Apu trilogy directed by Satyajit Ray.[1] His surname is Nahasapeemapetilon and it was first used in the season four episode "A Streetcar Named Marge". It is a morphophonological blend of the name Pahasadee Napetilon, the full name of a schoolmate of Simpsons writer Jeff Martin.[2] Originally, Apu being Indian was thought to be too offensive and stereotypical and was going to be changed, but Hank Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr. Homer" received a huge laugh, and so the concept stayed.[1] He took Apu's voice from the many Indian and Pakistani convenience store workers in Los Angeles that he had interacted with when he first moved to the area. He also loosely based it on Peter Sellers' character Hrundi V Bakshi from the film The Party, who Azaria thinks has a similar personality to Apu.[3]
Appearances in other media
Apu was seen with his wife Manjula in the Head Museum during the film Bender's Big Score, a continuation of the series Futurama created by Matt Groening, who also created The Simpsons.
External links
- Apu's profile at TheSimpsons.com
