Dileep (Kamal Haasan) is a successful industrialist who runs a company named "Minerva". He is a humble man but with a dark side. He preys on beautiful women, has sex with them, and kills them. These proceedings are video-recorded and watched by his adoptive father and mentor, another deranged woman-hater who, as with Dileep, had a disillusioning experience with women in his past. The old man stays holed up in a far corner of Dileep's mansion watching his son carry out what he is too infirm to do. The victims are buried in Dileep's garden and a rosebush is grown above.

Dileep meets a garments saleswoman, Sarada (Sridevi), and develops a romantic attraction for her. Conservative Sarada insists that Dileep must marry her if he wants to have his way with her. The romance proceeds and appears to be Dileep's salvation before things begin to collapse. Marrying Sarada, Dileep brings her to his home. Sarada learns about Dileep's past by accidentally entering a room where he scribbled on a wall everything about himself.

On the same day, Sarada stumbles upon Dileep's father who was watching Dileep's sex video in a room where their gardener was also present. They try to catch her; she manages to shut the door and tries to run out. As she prepares to leave, Dileep returns. Sarada tries to act normal while planning to escape. Dileep finds that his father has been locked in. When he saves his father, he realises that Sarada knows the truth about his deeds. A tense chase ensues, which ends in a graveyard in the dead of night, with Dileep stumbling and falling on a cross which pierces him. Dileep is caught by the police.

He is jailed but becomes mentally disabled and loses his bloodthirsty ways. He keeps repeating Sarada's name — it is his only coherent thought, and all other memories have been erased from his mind.

• Kamal Haasan as Muthu (Dileep), a wealthy man who involves sexual relationship with women after befriending them, in these women he imagines his traumatic past, he later kills them to quell his psychopathic lust.
• Sridevi as Sarada, a simple Hindu conservative girl who works in a shop named 'Roopsagar'.
• Vadivukkarasi as Dileep's office clerk Chitra, a girl working in 'Minerva' goes lost after working a few days there.
• Goundamani as Dileep's Minerva company's manager, a man who irritates 'Chitra'
• K. Bhagyaraj as a waiter, a simple man who works in a restaurant where Dileep visits.

P. Bharathiraja, whose first two directorial ventures – 16 Vayathinile and Kizhakke Pogum Rail – were set in villages, chose to make his third film, the thriller Sigappu Rojakkal in a different genre to avoid being labelled by people as a director of "village-based films". He wanted actor Sivakumar to act in the lead role in the film, despite his assistant directors preferring Kamal Haasan. But after Bharathiraja narrated the story, Sivakumar rejected the offer, feeling it was not suitable for him. Haasan was eventually cast; he claims to have known the story of the film six years before shooting began. Shooting took place at a bungalow in T. Nagar.

Kamal Haasan had told Bharathiraja that his character, a psychopathic killer, should not be singing and dancing but Bharathiraja deflected Haasan's objection, saying that the song "Ninaivo Oru Paravai" was a dream sequence, shot from the heroine's point of view. K. Bhagyaraj was one of the associates in the film and also appeared in a small role.

The music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. When Haasan was singing an English song at a concert, Ilayaraja who witnessed this observed that he sang the higher notes well, and thus provided him to sing "Ninaivo Oru Paravai". A remixed version of the song was later on M. Rafi's album Aasaiyae Alaipolae.

In a review dated 19 November 1978, the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan rated Sigappu Rojakkal 53 out of 100.^[14] Behindwoods wrote: "Kamal Haasan's memorable turn as a serial killer saw him declare war on the female of the species for their deceitful ways which he has experienced firsthand".^[15]

Sigappu Rojakkal was remade in Hindi by Bharathiraja himself as Red Rose (released in 1980).^[16]

In November 2009, Manoj Bharathiraja was announced to be making his directorial debut by remaking Bharathiraja's successful thriller film Sigappu Rojakkal (1978). Manoj narrated his script to actors Ajith Kumar and then Dhanush in late 2009, both of whom were unable to do the film.^[17] After his stint as an assistant director in Shankar's Enthiran in early 2010, Manoj continued fine tuning the script and stated it was not a full remake and only drew inspiration from the original. He also revealed that director Ram had also helped on work with the script, while expressing interest in casting either actors Arya or Atharvaa to portray the lead character.^[18]

In October 2014, the film was confirmed to be on the verge of starting shoot with Manoj confirmed as director, while the original film's director P. Bharathiraja announced that he would produce the venture. G. V. Prakash Kumar was signed on as the music composer, while Rajesh Yadav and Pazhanivel were picked as the project's cinematographer and editor.^[19] The film began production in Chennai during November 2014, with a publicity poster revealing that debutant actor Vishakan would portray the lead role.^[20] Bharathiraja revealed that he would play himself during the film's first half and stated that filming would take place in India and abroad in Switzerland.^[21] He also revealed that the film would not be a sequel, but would tell the story of a youngster who is affected to commit crimes after watching the original film featuring Kamal Haasan.^[22] In January 2016, Manoj stated that work on the film had been postponed.^[23]

The success of the film inspired similar themes about psychopathic killers - Moodupani (1980), Kadhal Kondein (2003), Manmadhan (2004), Nadunisi Naaigal (2011).^[24] Footage from Sigappu Rojakkal was also used in Yugam (2012).^[25] The line "Kuthunga Yesamaan Kuthunga, Indha Ponnungale Ippadithaan Kuthunga" from the song "Ivaluga Imsai Thaanga Mudiyala" in Kalakalappu (2012) was named after the dialogue of the same name in Sigappu Rojakkal.^[26]