| The 1950s musical | | | | shows that were themselves based on |
| | | | non-musical films, such as The Producers and |
| Since the 1950s, the musical film has | | | | the upcoming Hairspray. Slightly under the |
| declined in popularity. One reason was the | | | | mainstream radar, there have been a number of |
| change in culture to rock n' roll and the | | | | artistically lauded independent films such as |
| freedom and youth associated with it. Elvis | | | | Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Dancer in the |
| Presley made a few movies that have been | | | | Dark, foreign films such as 8 Femmes, The |
| equated with the old musicals in terms of | | | | Other Side of the Bed and Yes Nurse, No |
| form. Most of the musical films of the 50s | | | | Nurse, and the upcoming Clear Blue Tuesday. |
| and 60s, e.g. Oklahoma! and The Sound of | | | | In 2004, the New York Musical Theatre |
| Music, were straightforward adaptations or | | | | Festival presented a week-long festival of |
| restagings of successful stage productions. | | | | modern movie musicals that included 10 |
| | | | independent features made since 1996, as well |
| The musical film today | | | | as several programs of short movie musicals. |
| | | | |
| The trend in modern filmmaking after the | | | | Another exception to the decline of the |
| 1960s had been to avoid "musical films" as | | | | musical film is Bollywood, the Indian film |
| such, in favour of using music by popular | | | | industry, where the vast majority of films |
| rock or pop bands as 'background music' in | | | | have been and still are musicals. Thanks to |
| the hope of selling a soundtrack album to | | | | the incumbent Bollywood formula of the often |
| fans. There are exceptions to this rule, | | | | garish and unrealistic "song and dance" |
| however, and films about actors, dancers or | | | | routine, and the lack of an independent |
| singers have been made as successful | | | | Indian popular music scene until the late |
| modern-style musical films, with the music as | | | | nineties, the Indian film and popular music |
| an intrinsic part of the storyline. The other | | | | industries have been intertwined since |
| exception to the rule is the children's | | | | virtually the beginning of film production in |
| animated movie, which almost always include | | | | the country. Some top playback singers are |
| traditional musical numbers, some of which, | | | | celebrities in India due to the demand for |
| such as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion | | | | so-called filmi singles and albums. This |
| King, have later become live stage | | | | trend continues even to date, although a few |
| productions. In the early 2000s however, the | | | | of the newer Bollywood films (usually in the |
| musical film has begun to rise in popularity | | | | English language or art genres) are breaking |
| once more, with new works such as Moulin | | | | the mold by releasing films with no songs |
| Rouge!; film remakes of stage shows, such as | | | | (such as Black, Matrubhoomi and 15, Park |
| Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, and | | | | Avenue). |
| Dreamgirls; and even film versions of stage | | | | |