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The Simpsons character Apu has been branded a "racist stereotype of people of Indian and Asian descent".

Documentary makers behind new show The Problem with Apu, probed whether or not the cartoon's Kwik-E-Mart owner was offensive.

The new documentary is due to air on November 19 on US channel truTV.

Voiced by white actor Hank Azaria, the character is branded stereotypical for traits including his arranged marriage, large number of children and the fact that he is defined by his job as owner of a grocery store, producers said.

Simpsons' fan Hari Kondabolu said the character "gets to the insidiousness of racism" as it makes the prejudice so "normal", but others have taken to social media in outrage at the accusations.

Mr Kondabolu examines the issue with Aziz Ansari, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Maulik Pancholy, Sakina Jaffrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Kal Penn.

The film explores the influence that the hugely popular television programme, which has produced more than 600 shows in nearly 30 years, has had on comedy.

The comedian argues that Apu's representation of people of Indian and Asian descent has had a problematic impact on subsequent works of entertainment.

“The Simpsons is an important work of art that has influenced so many, including myself," Mr Kondabolu told the BBC.

"Apu was the only Indian we had on TV at all so I was happy for any representation as a kid."

He added: "And of course he’s funny, but that doesn’t mean this representation is accurate or right or righteous. It gets to the insidiousness of racism, though, because you don’t even notice it when it’s right in front of you."

The Indian-American comedian also said the animation had impacted his life as he would be "made fun of at school on Monday, based on what Apu did in the last episode", according to the BBC.

“Kids in the playground would always mimic the accent and say ‘Thank you, come again!’ or ‘Hello, Mr Homer!’” Mr Kondabolu said.

He added: “Sure, growing up in New York City everyone tries to be funny. If you grow up there you learn to make jokes and how to make comebacks, but it’s hard to counter an accent – what’s your comeback for an accent?”

"It becomes so normal that you don’t even think about it. It seeps into our language to the point we don’t even question it because it seems like it’s just been that way forever.”

Speaking of Apus so-called stereotypical traits, Mr Kondabolu said: “He’s defined almost entirely by his job.

"But he also happens to have eight kids, a joke about India having so many people, and he has an arranged marriage via this weird matchmaking system that’s almost like football draft picks."

However, Simpsons' fans have hit back on social media, saying that all the characters in the television show are "exaggerated stereotypes".

In a clip from the film Hank Azaria, who voices Apu, acknowledged that the voice may be considered offensive.

He said: "Right away, they were like, ‘Can you do an Indian voice and how offensive can you make it?’

“I was like: ‘It’s not tremendously accurate, it’s a little stereotyped,’ and they were like: ‘Nah, that’s alright!’”