Chandrasekar-Kalyani is the parents of three children: Kannan, Vijay and Raji. Chandrasekar had an elder brother. After the death of the latter, their three children are orphaned and stay with Chandrasekhar. Ramu, the eldest of the three, is a married to sita, a woman of virtue. The couple, however, is treated like unpaid servants by Kalyani. The second one is Gayatri, who works as a teacher in a school. The youngest is Anand, a press photographer. Kalyani hates the three and makes them dance to her tunes. At this stage, the character Ranga a notorious, anti-social element is introduced. He is shocked at seeing Kalyani in a shop. The very reason for Rangs's turning an anti-social is Kalyani. He decided to take revenge on her now and shatter her family. He arranges for a drama, which unfolds as below. Ranga and Gayatri get married in a temple. Gayatri goes to live with Ranga. Gayatri, in her new home, encounters the other side of Ranga. He injects steroids, instead of insulin, to her and thereby tarnishes her reputation in society. At the same time, he continues to play the role of saviour at Vijay's family tactfully. Ranga hires Murali, makes the latter 'prove' his extra-marital connections with Gayatri. The family fall into the trap and curse Gayatri, who is depressed. To stop this, Ranga plots to kill Gayatri, but she escapes. Everybody is made to believe that Gayatri has eloped with Murali. Anand, the press photographer, falls in love with Sindu. Sindu is born to Krishna, and estate owners, and Sakunthala. She has a brother named Hari. Sakuntala loves money than her husband, and seeds of separation have been sown. Krishna transfers his entire properties to his wife's name and leaves the house. Sindu follows her father. Krishna comes into contact with Savitri. She consoles him and takes care of the child Sindhu, too. Hard work makes Krishna the owner again of a tea estate. At this juncture, Sindu loves Anand and wants to marry him. Savitri agrees to this, though reluctant at first. Meanwhile, Ranga is continuing his search for Sowmya. Kalyani settles for a girl to be wed to her son Vijay. But he turns it down saying he loves Sowmya. Unable to hide his love, Vijay decides to wed Sowmya, after seeking the blessings of his father. Vijay, who feels Ranga can solve problems, introduces him to Sowmya and there is a huge shock. Sowmya fumes on seeing Ranga who spoiled her family. But there is a catch. To Vijay, Ranga is a godfather, and he would not allow anything said against Ranga. Sowmya senses that Ranga intends to shatter the entire family. Sowmya must save the family and expose him.
Alaigal is a television soap operas which aired on Sun TV. It premiered on 29 October 2001 at 7:30 p.m. On 11 February 2002 a show named Indhira replaced it in that time slot and Alaigal was moved to 9:00 p.m.