In the 2000s, Bollywood began influencing musical films in the Western world, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the American musical film genre. Baz Luhrmann stated that his musical film "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals. The film incorporated an Indian-themed play based on the ancient Sanskrit drama "The Little Clay Cart" and a Bollywood-style dance sequence with a song from the film "China Gate". The critical and financial success of "Moulin Rouge!" renewed interest in the then-moribund Western musical genre, and subsequently films such as "Chicago, The Producers, Rent", "Dreamgirls", "Hairspray", "", "Across the Universe", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Enchanted" and "Mamma Mia!" were produced, fueling a renaissance of the genre.

A. R. Rahman, an Indian film composer, wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Bombay Dreams", and a musical version of "Hum Aapke Hain Koun" has played in London's West End. The Bollywood musical "Lagaan" (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and two other Bollywood films "Devdas" (2002) and "Rang De Basanti" (2006) were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), which has won four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, was also directly inspired by Bollywood films, and is considered to be a "homage to Hindi commercial cinema". Several other Hollywood films are also believed to have been inspired by Bollywood films. For example, V. Shantaram's "Do Aankhen Barah Haath" (1957) is believed to have inspired the Hollywood film "The Dirty Dozen" (1967). The theme of reincarnation was also popularized in Western popular culture through Bollywood films, with "Madhumati" (1958) inspiring the Hollywood film "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" (1975), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film "Karz" (1980), which in turn influenced another Hollywood film "Chances Are" (1989). The 1975 film "Chhoti Si Baat" is believed to have inspired "Hitch" (2005), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film "Partner" (2007).

The influence of Bollywood "filmi" music can also be seen in popular music elsewhere in the world. For example, Devo's 1988 hit song "Disco Dancer" was inspired by the song "I am a Disco Dancer" from the Bollywood film "Disco Dancer" (1982). The 2002 song "Addictive", sung by Truth Hurts and produced by DJ Quik and Dr. Dre, was lifted from Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" from "Jyoti" (1981). The Black Eyed Peas' Grammy Award winning 2005 song "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was inspired by two 1970s Bollywood songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from "Don" (1978) and "Ae Nujawan Hai Sub" from "Apradh" (1972). Both songs were originally composed by Kalyanji Anandji, sung by Asha Bhosle, and featured the dancer Helen. Also in 2005, the Kronos Quartet re-recorded several R. D. Burman compositions, with Asha Bhosle as the singer, into an album "You've stolen my heart - Songs From R D Burman's Bollywood", which was nominated for "Best Contemporary World Music Album" at the 2006 Grammy Awards. "Filmi" music composed by A. R. Rahman (who would later win two Academy Awards for the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack) has frequently been sampled by musicians elsewhere in the world, including the Singaporean artist Kelly Poon, the Uzbek artist Iroda Dilroz, the French rap group La Caution, the American artist Ciara, and the German band Löwenherz, among others. Many Asian Underground artists, particularly those among the overseas Indian diaspora, have also been inspired by Bollywood music.

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