The collapse of the Mogul empire and political fragmentation under the British was both good and bad for the qawwāls.  On one hand the political disarray meant that a major suppression of their artform was impossible, yet it also meant that their patronage was also uneven.  

The rising film industry in the middle of the 20th century was a major vehicle for the rise in popularity of the qawwāli.  There was a period when a qawwāli was a mandatory part of the formula Hindi films. The film industry influenced the development of the qawwāli in several ways.  It is interesting to note that since the environment of the cinema house precluded the artist /audience interaction, it set the precedent for the more detached quality that characterises modern performances.  The filmi qawwāli also set the precedent for the "showy" quality that one finds in modern performances.  Another effect of the filmi qawwāli was the downgrading of the religious / devotional aspect. A typical example of a filmi qawwāli is "Sharam ke Kyun Sab" from "Chaudvin ka Chānd".  

The secularisation of the qawwāli is an interesting phenomenon.  One can see that the seeds of its secularisation are inherent in the qawwāli itself.  Themes of qawwāli have traditionally revolved around very mundane or even coarse occurrences.  However the coarseness of the situations have always been interpreted as the coarse spiritual existence of our daily lives.  Recent years have seen the qawwāli thrust into the international arena by such musicians as the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.  His fusion of traditional Indo-Pakistani influences with Western music created quite a stir in the music world.