Bonding, emotional connections, family time: What led to the birth of gaming arcade SMAASH

The failure of the telecom venture and the renegotiation of the price of the digital venture shattered me to the extent that it took a toll on my health. I now had a pacemaker in my heart and atypical Parkinson’s had affected my hand and impaired my speech. To top it all, I was 60 per cent down on my original wealth. But, not one to cower down and, against all odds, I decided to go in for the final kill.

My motivation came from Harvard psychology professor, Stuart Brown, who spoke on the importance of “play” in developing a high emotional quotient as well as bonding. Dr Brown had dedicated most of his career to the study of non-competitive activity games and how they positively impacted mental and physical health. According to him, the lack of play resulted in depression and anxiety.

He conducted studies on various successful and unsuccessful people, including serial killers and proved that people who made bad lifestyle choices like alcoholism or drug addiction had an absence of play in their lives.

As a father, I had not given enough time to my daughter. Now, I had been blessed with two adorable granddaughters. My mind was ticking. How could I make a group of friends or family play in a manner where there was no fear of losing? In an age where we add “friends” to our social media via our phones, there was no concept of friends physically grouping to play just for fun.

Not anymore.

Clubs were elitist and out of reach. The lack of open space, exacerbated by poor air quality, left no healthy or sheltered places to play and develop emotional intelligence. This lacuna fostered the birth of Play-Live, which was later renamed Smaaash.

There were a few existing formats, but they lacked the neutrality of age and, most importantly, the application of modern available technology. Once, in 2011, while watching a cricket match, I saw the technology offered by Hawkeye and requested that they develop an expertise that would take indoor cricket to the next level.

At that time, Hawkeye was an independent company and they had the flexibility to move quickly. One-and-half-years of hard work followed which involved creating a special bowling simulator – that could bowl fast, swing, and spin; a ball that would not hurt and yet had the feel of a season ball, perfecting the tracking technology and placing the field using AI depending on the strength of one’s shots as well as the opposing team’s ability to do the field placement. The game was created at four levels to make it all-inclusive. Women, men, children, adults, grandparents, amateurs, beginners, and pros could all play and have fun together.

Fielders had four levels of intelligence. At a beginner level, he could drop a catch, but at an international level (pro level), his fielding would be compared to the best of fielders. Imagine Malinga bowling to your son at an amateur level, and he hits a stylish boundary that rolls past fielders, and then he looks at you for appreciation. The subsequent thumbs up and resounding ovation that he would get created a deep, unforgettable connection. That was the bond I was looking for.

And this is how the first game of Smaaash was born. I was so excited that I invited Sachin Tendulkar and his family to try the simulator.

Sachin Tendulkar had come to England for his final overseas tour and I invited him and his family to Winchester, which is approximately 35 km from London.

Sachin saw his son play and said, “This is 99% as good as real.” Next, we had lunch at a four-star Michelin restaurant. It was especially kept open for lunch because the great Sachin Tendulkar was coming. Being a vegetarian, I hated the food, but I was not there for the food. It was the collaboration with the cricket legend that I was interested in. This is how the partnership with the great Sachin Tendulkar was born in England and his then-agent helped formulate it at the earliest. I was in seventh heaven because the first two objectives of the company were achieved

– You get to play with cricket stars regardless of your calibre.

– The God of Cricket, but for me the God of EQ, had agreed to partner with the venture.

I took it as a good omen. God was smiling upon me once again.

In 2012–2013, Star TV was bidding aggressively for BCCI cricket rights. Sony Entertainment, with whom I had investment banking connections, had IPL rights back then. These two channels seemed to be the best fit as partners to give a holistic cricket experience to their viewers. They could watch a match at Smaaash and then play with the stars of their choice.

I first sought a meeting with Sony and I was meeting the CEO after a long time. He was not enthused by what we had to offer, but I did not let that deter me. I sent an email to the CEO of Star TV and had to wait four weeks to meet their COO and the EA to the CEO. They were impressed with the way I explained the technology and what I had to offer.

The Star team was keen to sample an experience, but unfortunately, we did not have any nets installed in India. I invited them to Winchester, where our prototype could be experienced. They were scheduled to visit Amsterdam in ten days for a trade fair of the International Broadcasting Association.

The CEO and COO were highly impressed with the technology and requested me to set up the facility in Mumbai around the time their global boss, JM, short for James Murdoch, was visiting Mumbai for a board meeting. They were clear that the buy-in would be done by JM.

I was game to take the risk – because risk-taking was the only thing I knew. In a matter of two weeks, we not only set up the cricket lane, but also a few other technologies that we had perfected. This included our hologram technology where we filmed a Bharatanatyam dancer.

The set was in Rajkamal Studio, Mumbai. That morning, I had my heart in my mouth. This was a do-or-die moment for me. I had never had a big brother – a financial or strategic advisor – and this would be my first business in which I would have a solid partner to back my endeavours.

JM greeted me with a cordial namaste. He was accompanied by the India business CEO and COO. I noticed that there were two BMWs for JM. One was empty and followed the car in which JM was travelling, so that if his car got into mechanical trouble, he could switch cars immediately. JM and the Star team spent an hour-and-a-half at the setup.

Then, JM and his team from Star India left for an internal board meeting that was to last till 6 pm. I spent the entire day in anticipation. Time ticked away slowly and I was getting impatient. At 6 pm, I called their COO. The moment I was asked to come to their office, I rushed in. A sponsorship deal of Rs 15 crore over five years for five centres was agreed upon. It was a whopping Rs 75-crore deal and gave me enough flexibility to introduce new technology and games. Moreover, I was told that they were so impressed by what we had developed that they saw us as potential technology partners for future projects.

Initially, Star was hands-on in the branding development process. The head of marketing thought that the name, “Play Live” did not ring true and after much consideration, their agency came up with the name SMASH. However, the website address was unavailable and so we inserted another “a” – SMAASH. Yet again, the website address was unavailable, so we tried 3As. The trinity of “A” worked like magic and we had our website up and running. I even included the 3As in my presentation: Amazing, Awesome, Aspirational.

And this is how Play-Live was renamed and Smaaash was born.

Excerpted with permission from Never Say Die: My Life in Business and Entrepreneurship, Shripal Morakhia, Penguin India.