[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

The Problem with Apu

  • 2017
  • 49m
IMDb RATING
3.8/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
The Problem with Apu (2017)
Comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his cartoon nemesis, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian convenience store owner from "The Simpsons," in the trailer for his documentary "The Problem with Apu."
Play trailer2:07
2 Videos
13 Photos
Documentary

Comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his cartoon nemesis, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian convenience store owner from Les Simpson (1989) and the larger issue of how Western culture depicts ... Read allComedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his cartoon nemesis, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian convenience store owner from Les Simpson (1989) and the larger issue of how Western culture depicts Southeast-Asian communities.Comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his cartoon nemesis, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian convenience store owner from Les Simpson (1989) and the larger issue of how Western culture depicts Southeast-Asian communities.

  • Director
    • Michael Melamedoff
  • Stars
    • Hari Kondabolu
    • W. Kamau Bell
    • Kal Penn
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.8/10
    3.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Michael Melamedoff
    • Stars
      • Hari Kondabolu
      • W. Kamau Bell
      • Kal Penn
    • 62User reviews
    • 12Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:07
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:07
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:07
    Official Trailer

    Photos13

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 9
    View Poster

    Top cast26

    Edit
    Hari Kondabolu
    Hari Kondabolu
    • Self
    W. Kamau Bell
    W. Kamau Bell
    • Self
    Kal Penn
    Kal Penn
    • Self
    Aziz Ansari
    Aziz Ansari
    • Self
    Vivek Murthy
    Vivek Murthy
    • Self
    • (as Vivek H. Murthy)
    Maulik Pancholy
    Maulik Pancholy
    • Self
    Utkarsh Ambudkar
    Utkarsh Ambudkar
    • Self
    John Ortved
    • Self - author of 'The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History'
    Hank Azaria
    Hank Azaria
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Uma Kondabolu
    • Self
    Ravi Kondabolu
    • Self
    John Powers
    • Self
    Mallika Rao
    • Self
    Shilpa Dave
    • Self
    Rohitash Rao
    • Self
    Russell Peters
    Russell Peters
    • Self
    Whoopi Goldberg
    Whoopi Goldberg
    • Self
    Sakina Jaffrey
    Sakina Jaffrey
    • Self
    • Director
      • Michael Melamedoff
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews62

    3.83K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    3elrajerino

    Hack stand-up act seeks attention through controversy

    Hari's stand-up is second-rate and contrived, which did not garner him the fame he desired despite having access to the media apparatus through connections and wealthy parentage. So he went the route of feigned offense and propelled the zeitgeist of "cancel culture" along its unfortunate trajectory.

    As we can see after the release of the film and its brief discussion in the press, Hari has again disappeared into obscurity, no doubt wondering what famous piece of entertainment he can latch onto next. Perhaps he will next cover issues which actually affect Indians and Indian-Americans instead of being critical when cartoon voice actors are not the same ethnicity as their characters (for very specific instances). That, however, is doubtful because it would not get him very much attention and would require considerable effort.
    Aman_Goyal

    As an Indian, I hate this Hari, aka, Male-Lilly-Singh

    • "You're the one who hate Indians, Hari. Not Simpsons"
    Yes, I mean what I wrote. Yes, WE are stereotyped, we are mocked, our accent is mocked, and what not.

    • How is this disrespectful when it used to be true for first generation immigrants? Your family got its privileges and you don't have that accent because you're not an Indian, just of that descent. So, don't speak on our behalf, you idiot!


    • What, whoever this guy is, doesn't understand is, he is not Indian enough to have a say in it. In fact, he is probably more racist towards people of South Asia than the writers he is blaming. He hates our accent but welcomes our victim card, making all his stand ups about this and this only.


    "How many times has been in India? How many shows has he had here? I didn't even know he existed till now and he feels entitled to represent my entire race."

    • He also completely disregarded one thing: however racist it might feel:
    The Simpsons and Fox did put an entire Indian family in the most popular animated show of all time. When? Way back in the 1990s.

    You should be grateful to them, not grumpy. Don't try to convert your emotional baggage into others' guilt.
    4nicelandmusic

    meh

    Has it been much more focused on media ignoring minorities, instead of bashing a cartoon character which, in the end, seems just like PR a thing quite a lot (at least to me), this movie would have much more impact and obviously, much less views. Blaming Azaria for trying to talk on his own matters is a bit out of line. But besides, it does bring a lot questions and views and,fortunately so, even some answers but for me, this was definitely not the way to focus on the problem, even though yes, in the better version of the document, Apu would have every right to be mentioned.
    1SacrifyX

    The Problem With Hari Kondabolu, and his awful excuse for a 'documentary'.

    SPOILER: Before anyone says 'You probably didn't even watch it!', I did. Not once, but twice. Not only did I watch this 'documentary' twice, I also watched the interviews with this guy beating a dead horse.

    The guy cries about how in his otherwise perfect life, Apu is the problem. And when he doesn't get his way (for example, having a sit-down interview with Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu and many other Simpsons' characters), in the usual SJW leftist manner, he calls Hank 'Privileged'.

    This guy wants nothing more than to become famous by using his 'outrage' of 'being offended' and making a cheap, poor excuse for a documentary, while hanging off Matt Groening's creation.

    Here's a good example of that too: At about 46 minutes, he says, in quote, 'I certainly deserve a show'. See, I downloaded a torrent because I didn't want to give this guy any ratings by watching his cheap documentary on TruTV, although I could have, I made sure to skip it when it aired.

    Don't give this guy the opportunity. If you ignore him, he will go away. I had no idea who this guy was until these ridiculous accusations of 'offended outrage' started to surface from mainly leftist posts (coming mostly from CNN and HuffPost, that should say everything right there).

    Also, during the documentary, at about 4 minutes in, he says 'Now before you call me a Social Justice Warrior who's being very sensitive, let it go snowflake. Well I have let it go, for 28 years.' Yes, you've let it go so well that you felt the need to make a documentary about it. Usually when someone says 'Now before you call me a -Input statement of what they clearly are here-, they're really trying to deflect and say 'Well... I am, but still'.

    He also refers to Hank as 'A White Dude' several times. I think this guy is the real racist. He is a lousy stand-up comedian who mainly uses racial jokes during his stand-up, so he has already limited himself to that (and we all know you can't go very far on just that).

    This dude is just screaming 'I want to be famous SO BAD!!! Please every leftist, help make me famous, because my lousy racial stand-up routine isn't cutting it'. If you watch during the documentary, the small bars and clubs where he's on the stage barley have anyone in the audience. That's a pretty good indication that this guy sucks. You can even see a woman WALK OUT during one of his routines, which made me laugh so hard. I had to watch it twice just to see that, and I had to tell myself 'Why would this guy leave this in?'.

    It's so clear what this guy wants. He wants to hang off the success of The Simpsons by appealing to the 'Safe Space' generation. It's sort of working, because leftists will buy anything that fits into their agenda. But to every logical thinking individual: Ignore this guy. Don't make him famous.
    sallenlrar

    Horrible

    Tries to bring down the very thing he's making money on. Silly.

    Related interests

    Dziga Vertov in L'Homme à la caméra (1929)
    Documentary

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      By the beginning of 2020, Hank Azaria had stepped down from the role of Apu. Later that year the producers of the Les Simpson (1989) declared that white actors will not longer voice non-white characters.
    • Connections
      Featured in Brain Dump: The Apu That I Know (2018)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ12

    • How long is The Problem with Apu?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 2017 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El problema con Apu
    • Production companies
      • Avalon Television
      • Marobru Inc.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 49m
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.