Pankaj Tripathi says it was refreshing to play a detective in Homi Adajania's "Murder Mubarak", a film that will keep the audiences on their toes.

The movie, which starts streaming on Netflix from Friday, revolves around a police officer trying to solve a murder case in a posh Delhi club. Pankaj Tripathi plays cop Bhavani Singh, who is hot on the heels of the killer.

"It was refreshing to play a cop in an interesting and engaging film. It will be a fun watch for the audience. The viewer will not stress over who has done the murder because this world and its characters are very quirky. It's Homi Adajania's world," the National Award winner told PTI.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films, the film is based on Anuja Chauhan's 2013 novel "Club You To Death". Gazal Dhaliwal and Suprotim Sengupta have adapted the book for screen.

"Murder Mubarak" also stars Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Vijay Varma, Sanjay Kapoor, Tisca Chopra, Suhail Nayyar and Aashim Gulati. Tripathi said he had done a cameo in "Angrezi Medium", Adajania's film with Irrfan Khan, and the experience was so rewarding that it did not take him a lot of time to say yes to the new film.

"There were two factors that attracted me to the film: director Homi Adajania and this script. When producer Dinesh Vijan bought the rights to this book, he told me that he wants me to play a detective. My wife used to tell me that whenever I'll play the role of an investigator or a detective, I'll do a good job.

"When the producer said the same thing to me, I thought I must do this role. Bhavani Singh is not a detective but he tries to be one. Somewhere he tries to act like a detective and then his real instincts catch on. It's a very thin line," he added.

Asked if he drew any inspiration from any popular detective characters, Tripathi said: "I grew up away from cinema and TV but I was able to catch a few episodes of Karamchand starring Pankaj Kapur ji which used to be broadcast on Doordarshan. I have read a few detective novels which help you visualise characters on your own. That's why books are special, writers describe, they don't give you visuals."

The actor will next be seen in "Stree 2", "Metro... In Dino" and Prime Video series "Gulkanda Tales".