I Am: Celine Dion review: The documentary salutes the pop star’s never-say-die spirit; also has a Priyanka Chopra and Deadpool connection

I AM: CELINE DION is a documentary on the life of a global singer and her personal struggles. It details the life of Celine Dion and how her life takes a turn when she’s diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disease that causes severe and persistent muscle spasms. It prevents her from performing on stage. How she tries to bring the condition under control while reflecting on her illustrious life forms the rest of the documentary.I AM: CELINE DION is 102 minutes long and director Irene Taylor ensures that it has a captivating narrative. Celine Dion’s popular tracks are well-infused into the film at regular intervals. Also, footage of her sold-out concerts adds to the impact. What also helps in engaging the audience is that Celine Dion is naturally a funny person. She brings in a lot of humour as she talks to the documentary crew about her life or goes about doing her chores.A few instances stand out about Celine Dion’s life. The audiences are informed that all the iconic dresses worn by the pop star over the years, along with the accessories, are stored in a large warehouse. The size of this warehouse and the amount of items stored would leave audiences spellbound. She also makes an interesting point in the start that though she has travelled around the world many times, she “hasn’t really seen anything”, which is a downside of touring artists. Celine Dion’s sweet side also comes to the fore. The way she and her twin sons send a sweet video message to their butler when he was quarantined after testing positive for Covid-19, is heartwarming. Celine Dion’s poverty-laden childhood and how her mother used tricks to not let them feel poor is a great sequence.Celine Dion featured in a cameo in Priyanka Chopra Jonas-starrer LOVE AGAIN [2023]. I AM: CELINE DION shows the singer dubbing for the film’s French version. Priyanka’s scene is shown being played on the screen in the dubbing studio and it gives the documentary a desi connection. Moreover, Celine Dion’s contribution to DEADPOOL 2 [2018] also gets documented. The next film of the series, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, is releasing in a month’s time.But the most touching and even disturbing part of the series is in the pre-climax. It would leave viewers teary-eyed and salute Celine’s never-say-die spirit even more.On the flipside, certain developments are not clear or their timelines are not properly explained. There’s a drop in the middle and ideally, this could have been an 85 or 90-minute-long documentary for a better impact.On the whole, I AM: CELINE DION delves into fascinating and not-so-known aspects of the life of the iconic pop star.Rating – 3.5 stars