TAPS is a 2023 short film directed by Arvind Caulagi, produced by Kashish Arts Foundation and Four Line Entertainment with Lotus Visual Productions. It premiered at Kashish Queer Film Festival back in 2023, and is now available to watch for free on YouTube!
A bit of background about Arvind who is a trained architect but chose to chase his dreams of bringing queer narratives and stories to the big screen. In the middle of his masterclass at Gaysi Studio–I learnt how less daunting creating stories can be if I just write what I know as compared to writing something big, something grand.
Forward to us watching the film with Arvind––he was literally standing behind me––I realise how true his words are. If we write something we know, something that’s unique to us yet universal enough to help normalise queer domesticity, you can create art that resonates and rewards accordingly.
The initial scripts of this short film were apparently scrapped away until Caulagi came across Kashish Art Foundations’ grant application–wherein queer voices and directors are supported with a grant to shoot their short film. And once an organisation like Kashish uplifts voices, chances are these voices find more support, as TAPS did with Four Line Entertainment and Lotus Visual Productions.
As most short films are, they either show us the journey that characters go through right before something is about to end or begin–but what sets TAPS apart is it’s set right in the middle of Rohan and Akshay’s relationship. It’s already established, and it’s more at a turning point for them. It’s not an ending nor a beginning, just a couple venturing into a different mode of their relationship.
Quick context– Akshay is helping Rohan pack for his fellowship abroad, they’re entering their long distance era and things are tight. Akshay is pissed about something that he can’t communicate (yet) and Rohan is just trying to get on his flight knowing things will be fine at home.
There’s unspoken drama, inside jokes, taunts and loads of moments that will make you think–is this how you communicate to a partner who is about to leave his home/city for a year? My single, neurodivergent brain was just beginning to understand social cues of a relationship–I understood a few things about our leads and love in general.
The film is set entirely in their immediate space, the home and the society they live in, and besides the shocked uber driver at the end there are no other actors on the screen–so it’s just you watching them interact when they’re the most vulnerable.
There’s a lot of opposites attract energy here, Akshay is the responsible one, he’s the one making sure Rohan has everything and is set to catch his flight on time. But he also struggles to put his feelings into words, it’s tough for him to verbalise that he’s jealous and feeling insecure about Rohan being closer to his ex for a year.
Rohan on the other hand, seems like someone who likes to take it chill and genuinely doesn’t think too much into his actions. He understands Akshay and his cues of what usually bothers him but does come off as a bit dismissive.
In a quick Gen Z standard, this relationship would start to fall apart if we go on to categorise their behavior in neat boxes of red flag-green flag–but this is not how real life works. I think sometimes watching queer relationships where heteronormative binaries like red-green and masc-femme don’t tangle the relationship.
It’s about making moments count, about declaring your love even if you’re mad at them–and to be that’s what made this film more personal–despite being single and knowing it wasn’t my story to tell.
The film ends with Rohan finally getting his crotch “taps” from Akshay (an unexplained inside joke) possibly sealing the crack in their relationship for the time being.
We don’t know what their future will be, if the crack will ever mend or it’ll continue to shatter–leaving us in temporary bliss like a couple that we can only hope for the least painful route.
Watch full movie here-
