The question buzzing around the bhajan Maine Tere Hi Bharose from the film Hanuman Ansh has finally been answered by the singer himself. In a conversation with Sudhir Chaudhary on the show Decode, Sunil Lodhi revealed that the song is not his own original composition but part of a decades old Bundeli tradition, one that had already been sung by two well known folk singers long before it found its way into the film.
Hanuman Ansh has been drawing large audiences, and its devotional songs have become just as talked about as the film itself, with Maine Tere Hi Bharose leading that wave. Sunil Lodhi's rendition has spread widely across theatres and social media, yet very few viewers knew just how old, and how rooted in folk practice, this particular bhajan really is.
A song rooted deep in Bundeli folk singing tradition
Sunil Lodhi made it clear during the conversation that Maine Tere Hi Bharose is not a freshly written film bhajan. It is a very old traditional Bundeli song that has been part of folk singing gatherings and devotional evenings for a long time. In other words, the song that has now gained fresh recognition and a much wider audience through Hanuman Ansh was already woven into the folk culture and bhajan tradition of the Bundelkhand region.
The two singers who performed it before Sunil Lodhi
During the interview, Sunil Lodhi specifically named two singers. The first was Bundeli folk singer Chandrabhushan Pathak, who had also lent his voice to this bhajan in the past. The second was Deshraj Pateria, a familiar and respected name in Bundeli folk songs and traditional singing. According to Sunil Lodhi, Pateria's voice had also given Maine Tere Hi Bharose recognition in his own era. This revelation makes it clear that the version now heard in Hanuman Ansh has effectively become a link between old Bundeli tradition and today's generation of cinema.
Sunil Lodhi grew emotional while speaking about it, thanking the filmmakers for giving him the opportunity to sing it. He described it as the grace and blessing of Hanuman ji that this old bhajan became part of Hanuman Ansh and went on to become so popular.
Producer Anupriya Nagar's story of taking a big risk
The same conversation also featured the film's producer, Anupriya Nagar. The young Gen Z producer shared her own experience, revealing that at just 21 years of age she took a major risk in making a film inspired by Neem Karoli Baba. She said the film should have been made much earlier, since today's youth are embracing it wholeheartedly. Anupriya also pointed out that very few people actually know about Neem Karoli Baba and his greatness, which was part of what drove her to make a film on the subject.
