Will the laptop display to an external monitor? Plug the video out into a computer monitor and see if that works. If the laptop starts to display on the external device then its reasonable to say that the issue is either the lcd or the lcd inverter.
If the laptop will not display to an external monitor, it could be a huge number of things. The very first troubleshooting on a laptop is to try to discharge all of the power out of the laptop. Do this by making sure that the laptop is unplugged, removing the battery, and then pressing the power button, this will discharge any remaining power from the capacitors and if they are not discharging properly it can cause the laptop to hang on startup. After you press the power button a few times, reinsert the battery and try to startup the computer again.
If it is still not working, it is quite possible that it is a major hardware issue and more troubleshooting will need to be done locally to the computer. Contact your nearest computer repair shop for help.