Sakkarai Devan makes and sells jaggery. On a visit to a neighbouring village, he falls in love with Sarasu, on whom the village landlord Vairaperumal had already cast his eye. Sarasu's widowed brother Vaiyapuri is arrested following an altercation with Vairaperumal over his sister. Dhanam, an orphan, given refuge by Sakkarai, realising her love is one-sided, marries Vaiyapuri. Sakkarai's popularity with the villagers and his attempts to unite them against Vairaperumal invite the latter's ire.
The story of Sakkarai Devan was written by R. Selvaraj. He revealed when he visited sugarcane plants in Alanganallur, it reminded him of sugarcane plants owned by his grandfather which prompted him to write a screenplay based on this backdrop.[2]R. V. Udayakumar was supposed to direct the film but due to some reasons he left.[2] He was replaced by J. Panneer, who earlier assisted Aabavanan, making his directorial debut.[3][4] Selvaraj felt the film felt short of the taste they created after Udayakumar left the film.[2]Balaji Sakthivel worked as an assistant director.[5]
Malini Mannath of The Indian Express wrote, "Despite the story being an oft-repeated one, Panneer's narration is fairly neat and his handling of the subject confident".[11] K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote "Sakkarai Devan should go down well with Vijayakanth's fans".[3]
