After the result of the October 2025 Big Ticket Abu Dhabi was announced on Monday, hosts Richard and Bouchra phoned the winner to deliver the life-changing news, but got no reply.
Meet Saravanan Venkatachalam, a 44-year-old electrical engineer from Chennai working in Abu Dhabi, who has won the coveted Dh 25 million (roughly Rs 60.39 crore) jackpot (Series 280), but only got to know of it from his family much later.
How it happened
Venkatachalam explained that he started purchasing Big Ticket entries five years ago after hearing about it from an ex-colleague, who even won a Big Ticket prize in 2018.
“That was the beginning. After that, I bought tickets occasionally, not continuously," he said, as per a Gulf News report.
He also revealed an interesting hack to save money on his lottery ticket purchases: buying them using his saved credit card points, instead of spending his own money.
On October 30, he purchased a Big Ticket entry during the 'Buy 1 Get 1 Free' promotion, and by Monday, the winning ticket #463221 was drawn live, changing his fortune forever.
However, when the result was announced, he had been at work, due to which his phone was on silent. Later, he decided not to return the call, as he was wary of the unknown number. It was only when his excited family members called him that it hit him: he was now a millionaire.
“It was unbelievable. Even then, I wasn’t sure it was true because there may be many people with my name,” he said, confirming the win after finally speaking with Big Ticket.
His plans
Venkatachalam has said that he would be using a portion of the winnings for the education of his two children.
“I had secured the future of my children. The only thing on my mind is their education,” he said.
The 44-year-old, who had worked in Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman before moving to the UAE in 2019, also said that it would help him repay his loans and debts.
I’m just grateful,” he said, encouraging others to take part—either individually, or by pooling money.