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HARIDWAR - The 2010 Mahakumbh Mela has been a huge pilgrim draw with five million people visiting the holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar in the first two days for a dip in the Ganga.

BEIJING - Hong Kong megastar Chow Yun-fat said Thursday that he was confident a biopic about the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius can take on the hugely popular computer-graphics-laden, 3-D Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar." The 54-year-old actor best known for his iconic gangster roles in Hong Kong cinema donned scholarly robes to play the ancient sage in the $22 million government-backed movie "Confucius," which premieres Thursday in Beijing.

HARIDWAR - Faith has taken on every shade and meaning on the banks of the Ganga here with boundaries between caste, creed, age and colour blurring at India's biggest religious gathering - the Maha Kumbh - often dubbed the world's biggest show of faith.