'Hanuman Ansh' singer who sang 'Maine Tere Hi Bharose' used to perform on local trains while growing up and learnt music on his own by listening to Lata Mangeshkar

Before his voice reached theatres across the country, Suneel Lodhi sang for passengers on local trains, with nothing but a tambura for company. The visually impaired singer from Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, is now known for 'Maine Tere Hi Bharose', a devotional track that features in the surprise box-office hit 'Hanuman Ansh'.

Lodhi never had a formal music teacher. According to TOI, he learnt to sing simply by listening, growing up on a steady diet of Lata Mangeshkar's songs and performing at devotional gatherings in his village long before the world outside Bundelkhand knew his name.

From village gatherings to viral fame

Lodhi's association with music began in his childhood, when he started singing with a tambura in hand. Recalling those years, he told TOI, "I used to sing on the tambura." Over time, he built a repertoire of devotional numbers and Bundeli folk songs, performing for his community long before digital platforms gave him a wider audience.

His visibility grew through the Bundeli Duniya social media page. "I had been singing songs for the Bundeli Duniya page. That is where my Bundeli songs started getting noticed," Lodhi told TOI. While his song 'Dula Ban Ke Aa Gai' had already picked up lakhs of views, it was a traditional Hanuman bhajan, 'More Sankat Ke Kataiya', that changed the course of his career, eventually crossing 29 million views online.

A chance discovery, a hard-to-find number
The bhajan's simplicity caught the attention of filmmaker and music producer Pankaj VRK. Recorded with just Lodhi's voice and his tambura, the track stood out for its rawness. "I have been working on YouTube for around three years. More Sankat Ke Kataiya sounded very good in his voice, so I wanted to contact him," Pankaj told TOI.

Tracking Lodhi down wasn't straightforward. Pankaj said he had to search "here and there" before he finally found the singer's contact number. Soon after, Lodhi travelled to Indore for the first time, a trip that would eventually lead him to Mumbai.

The song that became part of a film
Once in Mumbai, Pankaj helped Lodhi get access to Sai Baba Studio, where he recorded close to eight songs. Of these, 'Maine Tere Hi Bharose' is the one that has released so far.

Describing the recording process, the 25-year-old singer said it was fairly simple. "I sang it on the tambura, recorded the vocals in the studio and came back," he told TOI. He had no idea at the time that the song would end up in a film. "I did not know that this song would be in a film," he said.

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For Lodhi, though, singing a devotional number felt familiar. "More Sankat Ke Kataiya is a traditional Hanuman bhajan. I keep singing these traditional bhajans. Maine Tere Hi Bharose is also traditional," he told TOI.

That film turned out to be 'Hanuman Ansh', directed by Vishal Chaturvedi and inspired by the life and spiritual journey of Neem Karoli Baba, whose devotion to Lord Hanuman forms the emotional core of the story. Released in theatres on August 7, the film has gone on to earn over Rs 45 crore against a reported budget of Rs 2 crore, giving Lodhi's devotional music a far wider audience than he had ever imagined.

(With TOI inputs)