Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly forbidden.

Political satire is usually distinguished from political protest or political dissent, as it does not necessarily carry an agenda nor seek to influence the political process. While occasionally it may, it more commonly aims simply to provide entertainment. By its very nature, it rarely offers a constructive view in itself; when it is used as part of protest or dissent, it tends to simply establish the error of matters rather than provide solutions.

Satire can be traced back throughout history; wherever organized government, or social categories, has existed, so has satire.^{[citation needed]}

The oldest example that has survived till today is Aristophanes. In his time satire targeted top politicians, like Cleon, and religion, at the time headed by Zeus. "Satire and derision progressively attacked even the fundamental and most sacred facts of faith," leading to an increased doubt towards religion by the general population. The Roman period, for example, gives us the satirical poems and epigrams of Martial while some social satire exists in the writings of Paul of Tarsus in the New Testament of the Bible.^{[citation needed]}Cynic philosophers often engaged in political satire.

Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was an English American author and journalist whose career spanned more than four decades. Hitchens, often referred to colloquially as "Hitch", was a columnist and literary critic for New Statesman, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Mirror, The Times Literary Supplement and Vanity Fair. He was an author of twelve books and five collections of essays. As a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits, he was a prominent public intellectual, and his confrontational style of debate made him both a lauded and controversial figure.

Hitchens was known for his admiration of George Orwell, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, as well as for his excoriating critiques of various public figures including Mother Teresa, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Diana, Princess of Wales. Although he supported the Falklands War, his key split from the established political left began in 1989 after what he called the "tepid reaction" of the Western left to the Rushdie Affair. The September 11 attacks strengthened his internationalist embrace of an interventionist foreign policy, and his vociferous criticism of what he called "fascism with an Islamic face." His numerous editorials in support of the Iraq War caused some to label him a neoconservative, although Hitchens insisted he was not "a conservative of any kind", and his friend Ian McEwan describes him as representing the anti-totalitarian left.

Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 450 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well. He has held the post of Chairman of the Censor Board and National School of Drama in India.

Anupam Kher was born into a Kashmiri Pandit family and lived in Shimla and was educated at D.A.V. School there. He is an alumnus and a former chairperson of the National School of Drama. Some of his early acting was in plays performed at the Himachal Pradesh University.

Kher made his acting debut in the 1982 Hindi movie Aagman. Then in 1984 came Saaransh, where 28-year old Kher played a retired man who has lost his son. He hosted TV shows such as Say Na Something To Anupam Uncle, Sawaal Dus Crore Ka and the recent Lead India. He has had many comic roles but has also played the villain such as his acclaimed role as terrorist Dr. Dang in Karma (1986). For his role in Daddy (1989) he received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. Kher has won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role five times, more than any other actor.